Nottingham Forest host Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon knowing that they can move level on points with the visitors should they earn maximum points at the City Ground.
Ahead of their trip to the East Midlands, Middlesbrough have recorded four successive wins in all competitions, and a fifth will be enough to close the gap on leaders Brighton & Hove Albion to two points ahead of the remaining fixtures later in the day.
Nottingham Forest
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After losing at home to Cardiff City and selling star player Michail Antonio to West Ham United within days of each other, Nottingham Forest boss Dougie Freedman could have soon found himself under pressure at the City Ground.
However, after the Scot used the international break to integrate new signings Ryan Mendes and Nelson Oliveira, the club have recorded back-to-back victories on the road against both Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City.
The results are all the more impressive because they came over in-form opposition, with QPR having previously registered 10 points from a possible 12 and Birmingham holding an unbeaten record in all competitions since the start of the season.
Forest have since moved to within a point of the playoffs and they can now start to look forward rather than being concerned that beginning the campaign in a similar manner to which they ended the last one could lead to a season in the middle of the table.
Despite their recent success though, this is a period of the season where their home form needs to improve. Only one triumph has been recorded in four attempts in all competitions, and with Hull City following Middlesbrough in visiting the City Ground, the pressure is on to perform in front of their home fans.
Recent form: WDDLWW
Middlesbrough
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Missing out on promotion in last season's playoff final could have resulted in a slow start to this campaign, but ahead of the eighth selection of fixtures, Middlesbrough have found themselves on the wrong end of a scoreline just once.
That defeat at home to Bristol City came as a surprise, but they have since recovered from that setback with three consecutive wins in the Championship over Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons and Brentford.
Those results have taken the club into second spot in the standings - five points behind runaway leaders Brighton - but the fixture list has been relatively kind and only during the next month will Middlesbrough show whether they have the potential to remain in the top six throughout the course of the year.
A major positive for boss Aitor Karanka is that his side are finishing games well - six of their last seven goals have come in the final quarter of a match - and the likes of Christian Stuani and David Nugent are quickly finding their feet after transfers during the summer.
It will be interesting to follow the progress and reintegration of Albert Adomah after he remained at the club despite handing in a transfer request, but so far, the winger has showed that he is keen to turn his attentions to helping them secure promotion to the Premier League.
Recent form: WDLWWW
Recent form (all competitions): DLWWWW
Team News
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Barring any late fitness issues, it will be difficult for Forest chief Freedman to make any alterations to the side that won so impressively at Birmingham.
Midfielder David Vaughan could potentially come back into the side after losing his starting role, while Mendes, on loan from Lille, impressed during his 30-minute cameo at St Andrew's.
Defender Michael Mancienne could be absent for the rest of September with a hamstring injury.
After Karanka revealed that he had been impressed with Adomah's attitude over the past two weeks, the winger could be handed a recall for the trip to the East Midlands.
Ben Gibson is expected to return in defence, but Carlos de Pena may have to remain patient for his full debut after signing from Nacional.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
De Vries, Lichaj, Mills, Wilson, Lansbury, Ebecilio, Ward, Blackstock, Burke, Pinillos, Osborn
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter, Clayton, Stuani, Fabbrini, Downing, Nugent
Head To Head
Almost half of the 57 previous meetings between the two sides have ended in draws, while Forest have prevailed on 18 occasions compared to 12 wins for Middlesbrough.
However, Middlesbrough have only lost one of the last seven games, which came in their most recent meeting in March.
Forest are unbeaten in the last seven fixtures at home, however, with Middlesbrough last recording a win at the City Ground in the Premier League in 1999.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Middlesbrough
With Forest recording back-to-back victories on the road in the space of three days, and Middlesbrough boasting four wins in a row, it's difficult to separate these two sides. Boro will believe that they boast the bigger threat in front of goal, but Forest have proven over the past week they may have what it takes to grind out a result against the league's in-form sides.
Darren Plant
