Nottingham Forest v Wigan Athletic - Match Preview
Nottingham Forest were handed a 1-0 defeat at home by in-form Bristol City at the City Ground last Saturday as new manager and former playing legend, Martin O’Neill’s tenure started off with a disappointing loss.
O’Neill recently replaced the under-fire former boss Aitor Karanka and although Nottingham Forest were just four points adrift of the play-off pack when Karanka resigned, it was always an uneasy relationship between the club and the outgoing Spanish manager.
Last week’s defeat to Bristol City became Forest’s third defeat in four matches, and although they beat the Championship leaders, Leeds United 4-2 on New Years Day, that’s been their only highlight from their last eight matches and the hosts now find themselves in a disappointing 12th place on the Championship ladder.
In addition, Nottingham Forest are now seven points adrift of the play-off pack, so new manager Martin O’Neill has his work cut out to get results quickly at the City Ground or else he’ll join a host of former managers including former legend, Stuart Pearce who have failed to get the Tricky Trees firing.
On a more positive note, Nottingham Forest possess a reasonable looking home record which stands at 6-4-4 17/13 and although they’ve recently lost to Preston North End, QPR and Bristol City, that win over Leeds United show they can still turn it on.
Defender Daniel Fox returns from suspension and could partner new signing Yohan Benalouane in the centre of defence, but Tendayi Darikwa is suspended following his red card against Reading.
O’Neill has a host of attacking options up his sleeve though with the likes of leading goalscorer Grabban (14 goals), Murphy (3 goals ) and Lolley (6 goals) along with midfielder Cash (5 goals) at his disposal.
Wigan Athletic’s problems were compounded with a 1-0 defeat away at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend which has left The Latics in 20th place in the Championship although they still hold a six point margin over third from bottom club Reading ahead of their trip to the City ground this Saturday.
Nevertheless, just one win from their last nine league matches along with a 3rd round FA Cup defeat to West Brom has seen Wigan’s form dip dramatically, with their one success being a resounding 3-0 home win over Aston Villa in their last home game.
Wigan Athletic have actually recorded 8 league wins so far this season but 7 of these have been registered at their DW Stadium as it’s their results away from home that have been a constant thorn in manager Paul Cook’s side this term.
An away record of 1-2-11 11/26 tells its own story as The Latics have lurched from one defeat to the next on their travels and along with Ipswich Town, have lost the most away matches so far in the Championship to date.
Throw in the fact that Wigan have failed to score in no fewer than 8 of their 14 away matches so far, and you can see why they find themselves dangerously close to the relegation zone.
Martin O’Neill will surely get his Forest side back on track soon, starting with today’s match against Wigan Athletic.
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