Don't count against Forest turning Monday into a Swans wake.

Many will say that Forest missed a real opportunity by not making the most of their home game against ten-man Swansea, but I don't see it like that. I don't think we'd be really any better off if we went into the second leg with a one-goal or even two-goal advantage.

That might on the face of it sound a bit absurd, but as we have learnt from experience, Forest just don't cope with expectation very well. Now they go to the Liberty Stadium on Monday knowing that they are very much the underdogs, even though the actual 'half time' scoreline is only 0-0. Swansea have only conceded 11 goals all season at home, so it will be a very tough task for Forest to win there. If they can keep it tight and hit them on the counter attack, they will have a chance, but they have got to play a lot better than they did last night, as even with ten men, Swansea at times really overran our midfield. It certainly did not help that our players were incapable of keeping the ball. The biggest culprits were Paul McKenna and Lewis McGugan. I was very disappointed to hear that Guy Moussi was injured, as I think he could have made all the difference. We just look a much better team when he is in the side, and we tend to lose far more often when McKenna is playing, especially away from home. So let's pray that Moussi will be fit for Monday, because if he is playing, then I really do think we have a good chance.

When Neil Taylor was shown a red card for a vicious lunge on McGugan just two minutes into the match, the fans were buoyant thinking that this was really a huge boost to Forest. But if anything it turned out to be a problem for us as it altered the game plan. Forest now found themselves with the unwanted tag of being favourites, and this just made them nervous and edgy as they failed to make the most of their extra man. Swansea did not seem fazed by their setback at all, and at half time they were much the better side, having forced Lee Camp into a number of important saves.

Forest did get their act together in the second half, but they were still guilty of giving the ball away far too much, and although they did test the Swansea goalkeeper Dorus De Vries a bit more, they did not have the right to feel hard done-by when the whistle blew. The Swansea fans were in very good voice at the end of the match, believing that the job was done, but don't rule out Forest just yet. They are capable of pleasant surprises, just as much as they are of giving us nasty shocks.