Nottingham Forest resume competitive action on Wednesday evening as they square off against Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup fourth round.
At a time when Forest occupy 18th spot in the Premier League, Blackburn continue to hold third position in the Championship.
Match preview
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Nottingham Forest were one of the clubs who did not want the World Cup break to arrive, Steve Cooper's men registering successive victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace.
That return represented the first time that Forest had recorded back-to-back wins all season, but it feels that momentum has disappeared in recent weeks.
Cooper's side lost three friendlies in a row to Stoke City, Atromitos and Olympiacos before getting the better of Valencia by a 2-1 scoreline on Friday.
Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis both got on the scoresheet against the Spanish giants to boost Cooper's and Forest's mood heading into their return to competitive action.
With Manchester United and Chelsea to follow in the Premier League, Cooper will be eager to see his players produce a strong performance against opponents who proved on Saturday that they are back up to speed.
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Jon Dahl Tomasson had previously witnessed Blackburn lose 4-1 at home to rivals Preston North End, a concerning result ahead of a trip to promotion rivals Norwich City.
Nevertheless, Rovers responded by posting a terrific 2-0 win in East Anglia, a result which ensured that they remained in third spot in the table ahead of their hosts.
Blackburn have remarkably now gone 23 matches in the Championship without registering a draw, yet that was the result in the last round of this competition when they faced West Ham United.
However, after an entertaining 2-2 draw, Blackburn prevailed in a penalty shootout, setting up an opportunity to reach the last eight of this competition for the first time in 11 years.
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Team News
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Despite wanting to build some momentum, Tomasson will likely make changes to his side due to already having to deal with fitness concerns.
Daniel Ayala, Harry Pickering, Joe Rankin-Costello and Sam Gallagher are all unlikely to be risked, with Scott Wharton, Ryan Hedges and Sammie Szmodics among the players in line for a recall.
Although he has not featured in the league since September, Tayo Edun has been a regular in the EFL Cup and should feature at left wing-back.
Cooper may be prepared to select the team which started the win over Valencia on Friday, with Harry Toffolo deputising at right-back.
However, the likes of Willy Boly, Brennan Johnson and Dennis were among the replacements on that occasion and all have arguments for recalls.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; S. Wharton, Hyam, Mola; Hedges, Morton, Buckley, Edun; Szmodics, Dolan; Hirst
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Toffolo, Cook, Worrall, Lodi; Mangala, Yates, O'Brien; Gibbs-White; Awoniyi, Lingard
We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Nottingham Forest
On the back of their terrific win at the weekend, Blackburn will be confident of securing another Premier League scalp. However, we have to respect Forest's superior quality and form before the break, leading us to predict a narrow away victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
