Nottingham Forest square off against Millwall at The Den on Saturday afternoon looking for a much-needed victory after two successive defeats.
While Forest occupy ninth position in the Championship standings, their opponents are just one point adrift of them while possessing a game in hand.
Match preview
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Ahead of their FA Cup tie with Arsenal, Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper would have deemed it to be a welcome distraction after two successive defeats in the league.
Forest did not necessarily perform to their best against the Gunners, but it was enough to nullify their Premier League opponents before Lewis Grabban's late winning goal.
It was an occasion which Forest required at this stage of the campaign, particularly with the likes of Steve Cook and Keinan Davis needing to make a positive impression after their respective moves from Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
Cooper will argue that further competition for places is required to raise their levels over the next five months, but they are back on track ahead of an important game in their season.
Although they sit six points adrift of the playoffs with a match in hand, another loss to a direct rival in the second tier could have long-standing ramifications.
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Millwall have been far from their best in recent weeks, the Lions having posted just two victories from their last nine matches in all competitions.
Nevertheless, like Forest, they used the FA Cup as the ideal distraction from promotion matters and troubled Premier League opposition in the form of Crystal Palace.
Their London neighbours ultimately battled back to deservedly progress through to the fourth round, but Gary Rowett would have taken the positives from a spirited performance.
Although Millwall need to improve at the back over the coming weeks and months, their attack has consistently delivered of late with goals coming in 12 of their last 13 outings in all competitions.
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Team News
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Having kept changes down to a minimum in the FA Cup, Rowett is unlikely to make many alterations for this contest.
Goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski will return between the sticks, while George Evans is in contention for his first start since the middle of December.
Jed Wallace, who has been linked with a move to Forest, is likely to miss out as he continues his recovery from a quad issue.
Cooper will give consideration to selecting the same Forest XI from the FA Cup tie with Arsenal.
However, Grabban will feel like he has done enough to earn a recall after netting the decisive goal, an impact which could see Davis drop down to the substitutes' bench.
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Hutchinson, Pearce, Cooper; McNamara, Evans, Saville; Wallace; Ojo; Bradshaw, Afobe
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Worrall, Cook, McKenna; Spence, Yates, Garner, Colback; Zinckernagel, Grabban, Johnson
We say: Millwall 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Even in defeat, Millwall gave a good account of themselves against Palace last weekend. Nevertheless, Forest have regained some of their previous momentum, and should have the tools to win this contest by the odd goal in three.
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 Millwall win with a probability of 43.82%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 28.3% and a draw had a probability of 27.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Millwall win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.57%) and 2-1 (8.52%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 0-1 (9.92%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Nottingham Forest would win this match.
