Nottingham Forest return to Championship action as they face Wigan Athletic at the City Ground tomorrow afternoon.
It’s been a chaotic couple of weeks at the club. Whilst the club’s hierarchy have been busy off-the-pitch with a change in management, the Reds have struggled on it. One win in their last eight Championship matches leaves them seven points off the play-offs.
Considering the position the Reds were in after beating Ipswich at the beginning of December, it has all gone wrong quite quickly.
However, Martin O’Neill will want to change that tomorrow afternoon. He will be looking for his first win as manager of the club after the defeat to Bristol City last time out.
In short, O’Neill could not have asked for a better fixture this weekend. Wigan have one of the worst away records in the division. If Forest are unable to pick up a positive result, then pressure would already start to mount on the Northern Irishman.
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Wigan have recorded just one away win
Despite their strong start to the season, the Latics now find themselves sat just six points above the relegation zone. This is mainly due to their dismal record away from the DW Stadium.
They have won just ONE game away from home all season. This came in the form of a 3-0 win against Stoke City back in August.
Since then they have played 13 games away from home in all competitions, drawing twice and losing a whopping 11 times. They have also failed to score in nine of these games.
Surely Forest should have the quality to get the job done? Well, it doesn’t quite work like that in the Championship, especially at the City Ground. As supporters are well aware, the Reds have a habit of allowing sides to end these type of dismal runs.
To begin with, Forest’s home form appeared to be solid. They managed to remain unbeaten at the City Ground until the visit of Norwich City on 20 October. However, having lost three of their last four home games 1-0 to Preston, QPR and Bristol City, not many supporters will be confident going into this game.
Fine margins for the Latics?
Wigan manager Paul Cook has spoken about his confusion over the huge contrast between his side’s home and away form. Despite the fact they haven’t won away since August, the Latics did beat Aston Villa 3-0 at home just two weeks ago.
Speaking to the club’s official site ahead of the game, Cook said: “The home form and the away form are too contrasting for me.
“You can’t have the home form that we have got – which at the minute is keeping us up – and the away form, with the same players, same information and same lads that were doing so well last year.
“We are just falling short by fine margins and that is the disappointment. Now it is a case of ‘How can we affect the margins?'”
It remains to be seen whether O’Neill can achieve his first victory as manager of the club. If he does, the Reds could find themselves just four points off the play-offs again.
However, if Forest don’t pick up a positive result, they could be completely out of the play-off picture.
It’s time that the Reds take advantage of their opponent’s dismal away form for once, rather than gifting them an easy way out.