Bournemouth play host to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening with the opportunity to secure a return to the Premier League.
However, holding just a three-point advantage over their opponents, Forest will move into the second automatic promotion position in the Championship on goal difference should they prevail on the South Coast.
Match preview
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Having spent much of the campaign competing for automatic promotion, failure to achieve that target would come as a bitter blow to a Bournemouth side who made several quality additions during the January transfer window.
Nevertheless, despite the influx in fresh faces, the Cherries still have work to do in order to get over the line, a cause not helped by four draws in six matches.
In total, 10 points have been collected from six fixtures, the latest win coming in clinical fashion against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, but Scott Parker's side have been unable to shake off a relentless Forest.
On a positive note, Bournemouth know that their fate is still in their own hands with victory on home turf on Tuesday evening being enough to return to the Premier League with a game to spare.
However, with Forest having edged ahead of Bournemouth in the goal-difference stakes, Parker knows the possible consequences of defeat, cranking up the nerves ahead of such a pivotal clash.
Dominic Solanke netted his 29th goal of the campaign at Ewood Park, but there is an argument that it is Forest who possess the in-form frontman of this contest.
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Sam Surridge, who came through the academy system at Bournemouth, has had to remain patient during his loan spell at the City Ground, and he has endured a somewhat frustrating campaign in general.
However, he all of a sudden has seven goals to his name in a Forest shirt, five of which have come in his last four outings with a hat-trick being scored against another of his former clubs Swansea City on Saturday.
Steve Cooper knew what he was getting when he signed one of his former players at the midway stage of the campaign, and it is now proving to be an inspired piece of business.
Forest have been simply stunning under Cooper's watch since his arrival in September, although collecting 27 points from a possible 30 during the run-in is a quite staggering return.
While a playoff would not be deemed as disastrous as it would for Bournemouth, Cooper will want to avoid a third successive appearance in that part of the campaign, the other two times ending in disappointment.
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Team News
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Barring any unforeseen injuries, Parker may opt to select the same Bournemouth XI which cantered to victory at Blackburn.
Jamal Lowe and Siriki Dembele are both pushing for opportunities on the flank, but Kieffer Moore will remain among the replacements.
Having had the chance to rest several key men during the closing stages versus Swansea, Cooper may also decide to stick with the same Forest players.
Alex Mighten will stay on the substitutes' bench despite his goal in that game, while Steve Cook will get the nod against his former club ahead of Tobias Figueiredo.
Max Lowe, Lewis Grabban and Keinan Davis are all sidelined through injury.
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Travers; Smith, Phillips, Kelly, Zemura; Lerma, Cook; Christie, Billing, Anthony; Solanke
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Worrall, Cook, McKenna; Spence, Yates, Garner, Colback; Zinckernagel; Johnson, Surridge
We say: Bournemouth 1-2 Nottingham Forest
As you can probably imagine, this is a difficult match to call, particularly with Bournemouth showing their true quality in recent weeks. However, it is nigh-on impossible to back against Forest right now and although we expect this contest to swing back and forth, Forest's extra belief might get them over the line in the closing stages.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bournemouth win with a probability of 54.22%. A draw had a probability of 25.1% and a win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 20.67%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bournemouth win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.47%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.73%) and 2-1 (9.41%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.81%), while for a Nottingham Forest win it was 0-1 (7.42%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 13.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Bournemouth in this match.
