Former Nottingham Forest striker Marlon Harewood is backing his old club to seal a return to the Premier League.
The Reds are 90 minutes from ending their 23-year top-flight exile, with just Huddersfield Town standing in their way. It promises to be a gripping contest when the teams meet in the Championship play-offs final a week on Sunday.
Steve Cooper’s side booked their place in the promotion showdown thanks to a dramatic semi-final victory over Sheffield United. Brice Samba was Forest’s hero on a pulsating night at the City Ground as they needed a penalty shootout to see off the Blades.
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Making it to Wembley caps a terrific turnaround under Cooper. The Reds were bottom of the table when he arrived last September and finished the campaign in fourth place, going close to pipping Bournemouth to the second automatic spot.
“Without a shadow of a doubt I’ll back them to win, because I’ve seen them a few times against Huddersfield,” Harewood told BETDAQ. “It’s going to be a good game but sometimes the Championship form goes out of the window and it’s like an FA Cup final – and it’s about the best team on the day that turns up.
“It can come down to that one person that will shine or get that goal to get them through. But the team performance from Forest, they’ve been absolutely fantastic this year considering where they were at the beginning of the season.”
Forest have toppled the Terriers twice this season. They won 2-0 in the away league fixture, when Steven Reid was in caretaker charge, and then beat them in the FA Cup to set up a quarter-final date with Liverpool. However, they lost 1-0 to a Duane Holmes goal at the City Ground Championship game in December.
