Reds can still sneak promotion if they hit form at the right time

It is a pity that so many results went against us yesterday, because drawing at Millwall is not bad at all. It's just the fact that we have lost ground on the automatic promotion places makes it seem like a big setback. But if we win our game in hand at Middlesbrough on Tuesday, we will be very much back in contention.

QPR, Cardiff, Norwich, and Swansea all won, and so we find ourselves in fifth place, just a week after occupying second spot. It goes to show just how tight the division is, and that it's impossible to predict who will go up automatically in May. It seems probable that it will be a team that hits a rich vein of form towards the end of the season. At the moment we've hit a bit of a stumbling block, with just one win in five matches, squandering points against lower-league sides in the process. The defeat at Scunthorpe and the failure to see off Preston at the City Ground could prove to be very damaging when it comes to the end of the campaign. These are the kind of games we should be winning easily, with all due respect to the opposition. That's why I'm not at all convinced that we can beat Middlesbrough, because they are fighting to stay up, and Forest seem to be incapable of dealing with pressure, an issue that has haunted them for years.

This time last week, people were wondering if Forest were capable of winning the Championship, never mind going up in second place, but the poor results lately have seen QPR storm ahead after overcoming their own barren spell. Forest will either go up in second place, or more likely given their recent form have to do it the awkward way through the play-offs. Forest have featured in these three times and never made the final, so why should it be any different this time? I could even forgive them if they got to the final but lost, just as long as I can finally realise my dream of supporting my team at Wembley.