Sheffield United it is, then, for Nottingham Forest. For better or worse. A chance for some revenge, perhaps.
For a few seconds at least, the Reds had secured a third-placed finish and were due to face Luton Town in the end-of-season lottery. Brennan Johnson’s penalty looked to have clinched a victory over Hull City. Switch off in the Championship, though, and you can be punished. The Tigers immediately equalised, and the play-off picture changed. We will find out over two legs just how decisive those few moments might prove to be.
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With a place in the top-six already secure, there was little riding on the game at the MKM Stadium. But Steve Cooper had spoken beforehand about wanting to maintain the club’s winning mentality. He wanted to finish third, too. Forest were so close to that. For much of the game, it had been a typical end-of-season affair, lacking in spark and intensity, with Cooper having made seven changes to his starting line-up.
The introduction of Johnson, Sam Surridge and Djed Spence from off the bench showed the visitors wanted the victory. They thought they had got it. Johnson’s was an excellently-taken spot-kick, after Surridge had been tripped in the area. In the end, they had to settle for a point. Coming fourth is still an incredible turnaround from where the Reds were when the Welshman walked through the door, sitting rock-bottom of the table.
And Cooper had stressed several times in his pre-match press conference that Forest were not worried about who they would come up against in the play-offs. The players are excited to be there. Now the regular campaign is done, the real business begins. Hold on tight.
