Former Nottingham Forest man Chris Cohen believes the Reds can use next Monday’s clash against Derby County as a catalyst for a play-off push.
The 31-year-old made 272 appearances for the Reds, and it would’ve been more if it wasn’t for several long-term injury setbacks.
He made his final appearance at the City Ground at the end of last season against Bristol City. There’s no doubt that the former West Ham United player is a hugely popular figure at the club.
He’s since taken up the position of Academy Technical Coach with the Reds. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he takes up the hot-seat at the City Ground at some point in the future. In the meantime, Cohen will be hoping Martin O’Neill can mastermind a late play-off push.
Cohen believes that the Reds can use next week’s East Midlands Derby as a catalyst for a good run of form. He told the Nottingham Post: “Anyone can still go on a run – Reading jumped out of the pack in recent years and there always seems to be one team who does that, one team who gets up a late head of steam.
“Why can’t that be us? It is just about getting a bit of momentum and trying to be that team that comes from behind the pack to make it into the play-offs.
“Beating Derby at home, under the lights, you could not have a better catalyst to get you going for a positive end to the season.”
A tough ask
The Reds currently find themselves sat six points off the play-offs on 47 points. If recent history is anything to go by, then a total of around 75 points would be required on average to secure a Championship play-off place. This gives O’Neill’s side a lot of work to do in the remainder of the season.
They’d have to start producing automatic promotion form. This seems unlikely considering the Reds have only secured back-to-back victories once in the Championship this season.
It’s not too late for them to change that. There’s no doubt that the Reds have been unfortunate in recent weeks. A number of poor refereeing decisions and injuries to key players have undoubtedly cost them points. They have the opportunity to still take something from this season, but they need a catalyst.
“Going back to the League One days we beat Carlisle, just after we had lost to Doncaster in 2008 – that was the spark for us then,” Cohen told the Nottingham Post.
“We thought the chance had gone that season, but you just need that little moment.”
Cohen certainly played in his fair share of East Midland Derby matches. He’ll know that it provides the perfect opportunity for O’Neill’s side to kick start a good run of form.
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