Preview: Huddersfield Town vs. Nottingham Forest

The Championship meeting between Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest has been brought forward due to TV coverage for a rare Thursday-night encounter in the second tier.

The hosts got off to a slow start but are in a good vein of form, while Forest are also playing some of their best football of the season.

Huddersfield

Chris Powell's side put up just three points out of a possible 18 in their first six Championship matches and it looked like their status as one of the favourites for relegation at the start of the season could be proved right.

They are up to 13th, though, after back-to-back league wins for just the third time in the last two seasons.

A week ago they inflicted a first home defeat of the season on Charlton Athletic before, on Saturday, putting four past Bolton Wanderers for their biggest league victory since May 2014.

Former Manchester City midfielder Emyr Huws scored in both wins, including a brace against Bolton, to take his tally to the season to three, which is already more than he has ever managed in a single campaign before.

The feel-good factor is back at the John Smith's Stadium, but Powell will realise that they have to shore up at the back if they are to maintain their mid-table position - the Terriers are one of three teams without a clean sheet in the Championship this season.

Although Saturday's win over Bolton was Huddersfield's first at home this season, the Yorkshire outfit are usually difficult to beat on their own patch - they have lost just one of their last six at HD1.

Recent form: DDLLWW

Forest

Forest's own two-match winning streak came to an end on Saturday lunchtime when promotion favourites Middlesbrough snuck away with a 2-1 win from the City Ground.

Dougie Freedman believed that it was his team's best performance since he took over earlier this year, with Boro keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos making several saves to preserve Boro's advantage, including a penalty stop in the 78th minute to deny Henri Lansbury the equaliser.

Forest have won only three of their opening eight league fixtures, but they lie just a point behind the top six in what is, as always, a tight and unpredictable league.

In total, Freedman's side had 21 shots against Boro and over the course of the Championship season they have had more non-blocked shots (99) than anyone else in the league.

Lansbury might have missed the chance to score from 12 yards at the weekend, but only two Championship players (Craig Conway and Alan Judge) have created more chances than the former Arsenal man this term.

Away from home, Forest have won two of their last three matches and not suffered defeat on the road since the opening day of the season when they went down 1-0 at current league leaders Brighton & Hove Albion.

Recent form: DDLWWL

Team News

Jamie Paterson is ineligible to play for the hosts against his former club after making his second Terriers appearance of the season against Bolton.

Powell is also likely to be without Joe Murphy (calf), Mark Hudson (ankle) and James Vaughan (calf).

Matt Mills scored Forest's equaliser against Boro with a crisp volley but then had to go off injured soon after at the City Ground on Saturday.

However, Freedman expects the centre-back to be fit in time for Thursday's match. Ben Osborn, another withdrawn against Boro, will not be available, though.

Huddersfield possible starting lineup: Steer; Cranie, Lynch, Ward, Davidson; Scannell, Whitehead, Huws, Carayol; Bunn; Miller

Forest possible starting lineup: De Vries; Lichaj, Mills, Wilson, Pinillos; Lansbury, Vaughan; Burke, Ward, Mendes; O'Grady

Head To Head

Huddersfield won both league games against Forest last season without conceding a goal, claiming a 1-0 victory at the City Ground in their last meeting in April.

The last two games between these sides at The John Smith's Stadium have finished 3-0, once to Huddersfield (last season) and once to Forest (February 2014).

We say: Huddersfield 2-2 Forest

With both sides playing their best football of the season, this should be a good contest. A low-scoring affair is unlikely, so we'll go for a high-scoring draw.