What were we worrying for? The Reds are STAYING UP!!!!!!!!

I'm feeling very emotional right now. As I write this my face is still wet from tears. I wanted this so badly that it made me physically ache. The past nine months have been at times sheer mental torture, from thinking Forest were definitely heading back to League One, then believing we were going to escape, and then back again. But none of that matters now. Our Championship place next season has been assured for next season after Reading beat Norwich 2-0 at Carrow Road, to leave Norwich unable to catch us on the last day. Breath a huge sigh of relief, everyone!

I was not coping with my nerves at all, and had been doing my best to keep busy to try and take my mind off it, so I'm just so happy that it's all over now, and I can enjoy the rest of my week and look forward to the final game on Sunday, which if we lose, DOES NOT MATTER...NOT ONE BIT! Now how good does that sound? Now spare a thought for Norwich, who must win at Charlton, but will still go down if Barnsley get so much as a point at Plymouth. Actually, I couldn't give a damn...hee hee! It would be rather funny for Norwich to go down as I can still remember Sammy Clingan's comments when he signed for them, saying that he believed he was joining a big club and it was a step up in his career! On the other hand, my mum's friend is an ardent Norwich supporter, and I feel a bit guilty because they said they hoped Forest would stay up even if it meant they went down, as they know how devastated I would have been. For that reason, I must hope that Barnsley go down instead, but to be honest I don't care now! I'm just so, so relieved that it's not going to happen to us!

When the Saints come marching in, all Forest need to do is win!

If only we had beaten Blackpool. We would be guaranteed of our Championship place by now and we could breath a collective huge sigh of relief, but unless Norwich lose to Reading tomorrow night (please God!), it will all come down to a final day showdown with already-relegated Southampton. And then anything could happen...

I am feeling incredibly nervous about it all. I know that our chances of staying up are good – beat Southampton and we are definitely safe – but if Norwich beat Reading on Monday, it means that if both Norwich and Barnsley win their last games, we absolutely must beat the Saints. A draw would not be good enough as it would only take us on to 51 points, which Plymouth currently have, and they have a far superior goal difference. They happen to be playing Barnsley at home, and if they beat them, it means we are safe no matter what happens, so I for one will be cheering for a Plymouth win as well as a Forest win, obviously!

Preston's surprise win at Birmingham might just have done us a bit of a favour as it means Reading have something to play for against Norwich. They will be putting in more effort than they might otherwise have done. They have an outside chance of going up automatically still, and their play-off place isn't mathematically assured, either, so they will be going all out to win at Carrow Road! So come on Reading!

The situation would have been out of our hands if we lost at Blackpool, and if they hadn't been reduced to ten men, I think they might well have gone on to beat us. DJ Campbell caused us a lot of trouble, but when they had a player sent off for bringing down Joe Garner when clean through, they had to play Campbell on his own up front, and they were not much of a threat. How typical that Brett Ormerod would be the one to score the equaliser, which cancelled out Dexter Blackstock's earlier strike, and put our survival celebrations on hold.

Saturday was extremely stressful as not only did I have to sit through Forest's game, but I then had to worry about the other matches as well. When Barnsley went into the lead against Wolves, my heart sank, but fortunately Wolves equalised late on and Barnsley, along with Norwich, remain behind us going into the final game. Let's pray that at least one of them is still there next Sunday evening...

The sweet smell of survival is getting stronger

There are just two games remaining, and Championship safety is almost within our grasp, but that won't stop me worrying myself sick until it is 1000% certain for us not to end up in the bottom three.

I felt terrible during the match against Coventry. The tension was so bad that by the end when Coventry kept pinging the ball into our area, I was screaming blue murder. I could hardly stand up straight when it was time to leave. I'm just amazed that this morning I didn't wake up with a headache. I wouldn't have minded seeing as Forest won, and that's all that this weekend was about - getting those all-important three points. And we did...just. The first half display was very nervy and uninspiring, which given the circumstances, I suppose was understandable. Any thoughts that the Coventry players were already thinking of their summer holidays were forgotten as they were much the better side and were very unfortunate to not be in the lead at half time. Our defence looked very shaky, and only poor finishing saved us.

But the second half was a completely different story. We got off to the best possible start when James Perch drove in a low shot, just thirty seconds after the restart. From then on Forest poured forward, looking like a side high on confidence, and not one with the fear of relegation hanging over their heads. I think what changed the game was Paul Anderson going off injured at half time. He had not been himself at all in the first half, so I wasn't all that disappointed to lose him, and I was confident that his replacement Gareth McCleary would pose a few problems for Coventry, which he did with some excellent runs. He really breathed new life into our forward line, which had been very ineffective before the break.

Coventry weren't much of a threat at all until the final few minutes when Forest lost Lewis McGugan to injury and with Ian Breckin coming on to replace him, Forest reshuffled at the back with Luke Chambers switching back to right back from central defence, where he was given a rare opportunity to show off his talent. And to be fair to him he looked a much better player there, which will give Billy Davies food for thought when he reassesses his squad in the summer.

Fortunately Forest held on for a massive three points. It was an almost perfect weekend for us with Norwich losing their East Anglia derby at Ipswich and Southampton lost at Sheffield Wednesday, which means that we are now three points clear with just two games to go. Barnsley drew at Reading, which leaves them two points behind us, but they can go above us on Tuesday if they win at Coventry. Wouldn't it be fantastic if next Saturday we still have both Barnsley and Norwich below us going into the Blackpool match? If we win next week, Norwich would have to beat Reading on the Monday night to stop us from staying up!

Part of me wants to celebrate our survival with thousands of other fans all going crazy on the City Ground pitch just like we did last season when we got promotion, but I'm not sure my nerves can take much more, so it would be nice if it could all be sorted out before then. But then again this is Forest we're talking about. I still think it will go to the last day with defeat against Southampton making it possible for us to go down. But I am a born worrier, so don't take any notice of me. It will probably be ok...probably.

Precious point sets us up nicely for the Great Escape

As expected we've gone back into the bottom three only 48 hours after Dexter Blackstock blasted us out of it, but it seems very unfair on Forest, who managed to hold Sheffield United to a goalless draw at Bramall Lane, despite being reduced to ten men after only 15 minutes of the match.

The odds seemed to be steeped in United's favour on the back of five straight wins and Forest being ravaged by yet more injury problems with Iain Turner ruled out possibly for the rest of the season with a broken toe, and the news that Rob Earnshaw could also miss the last few games with a knee problem was a big psychological blow.

When Kelvin Wilson was sent off for stupidly head-butting Greg Halford, I thought, 'that's it, we've lost'. To be honest, I had thought that when I heard the team news, so the fact that we have come away with a point is absolutely brilliant, and a huge confidence boost going into our last three fixtures against Coventry, Blackpool and Southampton. I do not want to tempt fate, but all those games look very winnable to me, and we probably don't even need to win them all. A quick glance at Barnsley's last four matches (they have a game in hand) tells me that they should be made the favourites to be relegated ahead of Forest and Norwich. They lost at home to Swansea today, and have only won one in their last eight matches. They have Reading and Coventry away next, followed by a home game against Wolves and then another away trip to Plymouth on the final day. I'm very hopeful that Forest will end up with a better points yield than Barnsley from the final games, and in which case, providing Southampton don't overtake us, will stay up!

I suspected that both Norwich and Southampton would win their home games today, but I thought we'd lose and that Barnsley would also win, so to be level on points with two other clubs is a boost. To claim four points from two good teams in Bristol City and Sheffield United is excellent, and it sets us up nicely for the home game against Coventry next weekend. If we win that, we will probably be out of the relegation zone as it's unlikely that both Norwich and Barnsley will win their away games. Norwich are at Ipswich, who are in very bad form right now, but when it comes to local derbies, anything can happen. Barnsley would do well to get a point at Reading. So even if we draw against Coventry, we could get out of the bottom three if Barnsley lose.

All Forest can do is win their remaining three games, and if they do that, they will be able to call themselves a Championship team when the season kicks off in August. Are you sitting comfortably? All will be revealed very soon...

Was that the goal that saved Forest's season?

The name's Blackstock. Dexter Blackstock. Just how important will the last-gasp win over Bristol City turn out to be when the season finally draws to its conclusion in three weeks' time?

With just eight minutes left we were 2-1 down and staring League One in the face. True, we would still only have been one point away from safety by virtual of Norwich's defeat at Swansea, but psychologically, I think defeat would have finished us off, especially with the prospect of a trip to automatic promotion-chasing Sheffield United to dread on Easter Monday. So to come back from a goal down in the last ten minutes to clinch a crucial, crucial win in our fight against relegation is a tremendous tonic. The sending-off of right back Bradley Orr for a second bookable offence was the turning point as substitute Joe Garner equalised from the resultant free-kick, and that paved the way for Forest to push on for the winner.

When Blackstock's volley crashed into the back of the net, the atmosphere at the City Ground was incredible. I had my headphones on so I could keep in touch with the other scores, but I couldn't hear a thing in the last ten minutes. I had no idea if Swansea had managed to hold on against Norwich, or whether Barnsley had scored a late goal at Watford. Fortunately for us both results went our way with Barnsley only managing a draw and Norwich losing 2-1, and as a result they are just one point away from us now and right in the thick of the relegation battle. Our last-gasp win saw us leapfrog Norwich and go two points clear of them and four clear of Southampton, who look to be down and out whether or not they will get deducted points. But let's not get too carried away. In all probability we will be back in the bottom three by the end of Monday's round of matches as it will be extremely tough to get anything from the Sheffield United game, and Norwich will probably win their home game against Watford.

I won't worry too much if we are in the bottom three as I think we'll be back out of it next Saturday with victory over Coventry, who suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Plymouth yesterday. That result should ensure Plymouth have a place in the Championship next season as they are now six points clear of the bottom three. I honestly thought they would go down, but a couple of wins on the bounce has seen them pull clear. Coventry's confidence will be really dented after that, so perhaps it's a good time to play them. I reckon we need two more wins, and a draw from our final four games, and with Coventry and Southampton being our last two opponents at the City Ground, I think we have an excellent chance of staying up.

It could have been oh so different if we had not beaten City. I would not have been happy with a draw at all, even if the equaliser did come late on. Everybody was saying before the match that it was our home games that mattered, and if we were to win all three of them, we would probably stay up, so when Dele Adebola, whom Forest incidentally had tried to sign a couple of months ago, pounced on a terrible error by Iain Turner to give his side the lead with twelve minutes to go, my heart sank. I couldn't see a way back and was by then trying to come to terms with a return to League One football. I sat there thinking 'we're just not good enough for the Championship'. And no doubt did thousands of others, some of whom decided to up and leave at that moment. Shame on them for missing such a thrilling climax to a great game of football.

Penalty save could be the Turning point in our season

People were saying that Barnsley was a must-win game, but thanks to results elsewhere largely going our way, we've ended the day a point closer to safety than we started it, so we've got to be pleased with that, especially as the game could have been all over had Iain Turner not saved a penalty.

Forest played very well in the first half, and did everything but score, with new loan-signing Dexter Blackstock looking particularly dangerous in attack alongside Rob Earnshaw, and Forest were a constant menace going forward. But Barnsley were always a threat on the counter attack, and made our defence work hard. Considering the frantic pace of the match, it was a surprise that the deadlock had still not be broken at half time.

But it was less than a minute into the second half when Barnsley took the lead. As per usual it was down to slack defending on Forest's part with Wes Morgan's headed clearance only making it as far as Jamal Campbell-Ryce who headed over the helpless Turner.

The usually reliable Morgan was again at fault when he tripped Andranik Teymourian and Barnsley were awarded a penalty just before the hour mark. However, Turner saved Campbell-Ryce's effort, and it was to be the turning point of the game (pardon the pun) as Forest deservedly equalised ten minutes later thanks to Rob Earnshaw's 15th goal of the season.

As both Norwich and Southampton lost their home games, a draw against Barnsley, who cannot be ruled out of the relegation battle themselves, was quite a good result. We are only a point away from safety with five matches to go now. If you told me that way back in November, I would have been delighted. Back then I thought we'd be virtually relegated by about March. True, we were four points clear not long ago, but things change so quickly in football. We've only claimed two points from our last fifteen, which has seen us drop right back into trouble. Just one more win would have seen us out of the relegation zone, so it just goes to show how many poor sides there are around us. I honestly expected both Norwich and Southampton to win on Saturday. Norwich were playing Sheffield Wednesday, and Southampton had Charlton, who barring a miracle of epic proportions, are heading for League One. We could have done without Plymouth winning at Blackpool, though, as they are now four points ahead of us, and they were my tip to get relegated, but that win has given them some breathing space now. But we can't ask for everything, can we?

We might well only be worrying about one relegation place now as there are rumours that Southampton could be docked ten points this week after their parent company went into administration. Technically the football club itself is not in administration, but the FA apparently could still punish them as they will face a backlash from other clubs who have been docked points. To be honest, whether or not they do lose points, I think Southampton are going down anyway. All the uncertainty off the pitch will see to that. I just hope that on the last day of the season when they visit us we're still alive ourselves.