Nottingham Forest have some exciting fixtures to look forward to over the Christmas period and hopefully, the schedule will remain intact.
The Reds won’t want any cancellations with Forest currently on a run of one defeat in 16 and three wins in succession.
Under Steve Cooper, things are looking up and a good points haul over Christmas could be the catalyst for a proper promotion push.
Ahead of the Christmas fixtures, we had a go at predicting how the Reds might perform during the programme.
Forest’s Christmas fixtures predicted:
Middlesbrough (A)
This promises to be a tough game. Boro have been in good form under Chris Wilder and this represents a game against one man who wanted the Forest job when Chris Hughton was sacked.
Forest have been good on their travels though and will fancy claiming a positive result.
One negative for Forest is that they won’t have Djed Spence available for the trip to the Riverside Stadium.
We still fancy a positive outcome for the Reds, however.
Prediction: 1-1 draw
Huddersfield (H)
It has been an inconsistent sort of season for the Terriers so far this season and back in September, they became the first team to lose to Forest during 2021/22.
With that in mind, we believe this is a great chance for Forest to get some more home points on the board.
Carlos Corberan has his team playing an intriguing style of play. They keep the ball well but don’t always utilise it to maximum effect.
We think Brennan Johnson could be tailor-made for this fixture and he could lead Forest to success.
Prediction: Forest win 2-0
Barnsley (H)
The Tykes had won just twice all season heading into the Christmas period.
They are staring down the barrel of relegation and Forest have to be winning this game if they stand any chance of reaching the play-offs.
Dane Murphy will see a few familiar faces in the boardroom after this game and he’ll hope to be gloating come the full-time whistle.
Expect Lewis Grabban to have a field day in this one.
Prediction: Forest win 3-1
Forest claim seven points from three games
This of course is the Championship and nothing is a given.
It’s fair to say though that Forest could have been given far tougher games over the Christmas period.
Barnsley are struggling, whilst Middlesbrough and Huddersfield see the Reds take on teams who are largely inconsistent.
Forest will hope to keep up their march towards the top six with some impressive performances in the coming few days.