The Championship season is into its final fortnight, and Nottingham Forest are all-but guaranteed a top-six finish.
The Reds need just one more point to make absolutely certain of a play-off place, at least. And they will want to finish the regular campaign in style.
It has already been a memorable season for Steve Cooper’s side. But the best may yet be to come.
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Ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Fulham, and with four games left, Reds reporter Sarah Clapson answered fans’ questions in a live Q&A on our Forest Facebook page. Here’s how it panned out.
Q: What’s the latest with Lewis Grabban?
A: That was the real down side from Saturday. It was concerning to see him go down and look in some discomfort.
It didn’t look good. And he made it clear that he needed to come off straight away, having only come on about 15 minutes earlier. There’s no update at the minute, but we’ll hopefully get one from Steve Cooper this week.
The manager was very cautious about saying anything after Saturday’s match, because it had only just happened. He wanted to wait until Grabban had been properly assessed.
Everyone will be crossing fingers that it’s nothing too severe. It would be a huge, huge blow to lose Grabban now, especially as Keinan Davis is out.
I’ve seen a few comments from some people on social media saying it wouldn’t be too big a deal to lose Grabban. But I don’t understand that at all. I don’t get it. For me, it would be a huge loss. Even if Grabban wasn’t to start games, he would still offer something from the bench.
Forest could be down to one senior striker - potentially for seven games, if they are in the play-offs and go all the way. If those are the cards they are dealt with, they will get on with it, in the same way the manager always does. But it would be far from ideal.
Sam Surridge is capable of stepping up and leading the line. But you’d still want as many players - and particularly forwards - available as possible, to give you different options. And what if Surridge were to get injured?
Still, if it is a spell on the sidelines for Grabban, Forest will approach the rest of the season in the same way. They still have a lot of goal threat throughout the team.
It would be a shame if that’s the way Grabban’s season ends, though. And there’s still the matter of his future to be decided, with his contract up in the summer.
There’s been no indication anything has been decided on that front. I’d still offer him another year, because I do think he still has something to offer.
Q: Is Keinan Davis out for the rest of the season?
A: He’s not expected to feature for the remaining games of the regular season. But there is a small chance he could be back in time for the play-offs - that’s not certain by any means, though. He was expected to be sidelined for about four to five weeks, which would put any return at roughly mid-May.
All of the injured players have been putting in a heck of a lot of effort to get back as quickly as they can, we’ve seen that with Steve Cook, Scott McKenna and Grabban. And Davis will be no different. He’ll be desperate to be involved again.
It’s good that the loan players have been doing their rehab at Forest. Davis and Max Lowe are both still at the club. Cooper is very keen to make sure they remain involved and still feel part of the squad.
Cooper said last week that Davis was very chipper in the treatment room, which is hopefully a good sign. It would be great if he is back sooner than expected, that would be a massive boost.
Forest will want to be really cautious with him, though. They won’t want to rush him - particularly after seeing Grabban return only to then pick up another injury.
Q: How far is Max Lowe from coming back?
A: It looks like he’s going to be a little while away yet. Cooper didn’t sound too optimistic when speaking about him a few days ago.
He was on the grass doing some light running last week. But it seems as though he’s still a fair way off.
He’s had a bit of a tough time of it, Lowe. He was expected to be out for a similar length of time to Cook, as they both picked up injuries in the same game, but Lowe is a little bit behind now.
Forest will be really cautious with him, because it’s a similar groin injury to the one he had before. I’d be surprised if we see him in these last four games, because he’s only just making small steps towards coming back.
He is making progress, though. Hopefully he is back soon and does get back out there on the pitch before Forest’s season is over.
Q: What are the chances of getting second place?
A: It’s still a possibility. Forest are still in with a chance, however small that might be.
Bournemouth need eight points from their last four games. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but you never know how much pressure might affect them. They’ve won once in their last five games, so their form has dipped a bit. Forest, on the other hand, have been flying.
And there is still that game between the two teams to come. That could prove to be huge.
Forest have got to concentrate on picking up points against Fulham and Swansea City first, though - and neither of those games will be easy. They’ve got to do their bit, and then see what happens with Bournemouth. All Forest can do is take care of themselves, getting caught up in what happens elsewhere could be dangerous.
Until it’s mathematically uncertain that they can’t catch Bournemouth, Forest will be doing their best. They want to win every game and finish as high up the table as they can.
If it is to be play-offs, it’s also important they go into them with some momentum. That was a point Steve Cook made when we spoke to him last week.
I do think second is unlikely. I wouldn’t be surprised if Forest aren’t too many points off Bournemouth by the end, but they might well run out of games to catch them.
Q: It’s great to see three Forest players in Championship Team of the Year (Djed Spence, Joe Worrall and Ryan Yates) and Brennan Johnson win Championship Young Player of the Year.
A: To have three players in Team of the Year shows just how well Forest have been doing. It’s fantastic.
All three thoroughly deserve their places in there; they’ve all been outstanding. You could argue a few more Forest players should be in there, too - certainly Johnson, and probably Scott McKenna and James Garner.
Johnson is definitely a deserving winner of the Young Player of the Year accolade. He’s a special, special talent with a very bright future ahead of him.
Steve Cooper must have run Nathan Jones close for Manager of the Year, although I do think you have to acknowledge the great job Jones has done at Luton. I’m sure Cooper won’t be too bothered about missing out, though. If he can oversee promotion, that would more than make up for not getting that particular trophy.
