Nine teams separated by five points. Buckle yourselves in as Nottingham Forest head toward the final stage of their fight for Premier League survival.
It’s going to be tense. It’s going to be nervy. And there will no doubt be plenty of twists and turns to come.
Steve Cooper’s side are still outside of the relegation zone. But without a win in five, and with their away form still giving the head coach a significant headache, they are in need of some positive results. In fact, the Reds’ next four games could prove decisive.
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At some stage, a bigger gap is going to form between the teams in the thick of the relegation battle and those who can breathe a little easier. It’s unlikely anything will be completely cut and dried before mid-April - and it could still go to the wire - but a few weeks from now, the picture could look a little clearer.
Forest have successive home games coming up, one either side of the international break. Given the heavy lifting their record at the City Ground is doing, they need to make the most of them.
Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers are not going to be easy opponents, though. The Magpies are fifth in the table, while Wolves look the most likely of the bottom nine teams to pull away from relegation trouble fairly comfortably.
Following those matches, Cooper’s men have trips to Leeds United and Aston Villa. It’s difficult to escape the notion that to stay up they are going to have to pick up at least some points on the road. With games at Liverpool, Brentford, Chelsea and Crystal Palace to come, Elland Road and Villa Park need to be the starting point for turning away performances around.
“We’ve been in the situation we’re in for a long while now,” Cooper said ahead of taking on the Magpies. “We’ve kept trying to stick to the plan and our beliefs, and always look forward whilst learning along the way.
“The situation hasn’t changed, it’s the situation we’ve been in from the start of the season. It gets a bit more interesting now with not a load of games left and there’s more scrutiny on each game and what might happen, not just for us, but for every team.”
There is still a long way to go in the campaign, and the international break could prove a blessing for Forest. It will offer a chance to step back, take a deep breath and gear up for the run-in, while also, hopefully, giving a number of injured players an extra bit of recovery time. Get a few of them back quickly and that will be a huge boost, maybe even a turning point.
The Reds are still in a good position. They still have survival in their own hands. But the next four games could go a long way towards shaping the final weeks of the season.
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