Preview: Nottingham Forest vs. Norwich City

Nottingham Forest must be wondering where the next three points are going to come from having seen their winless streak hit double figures ahead of Saturday's visit from Norwich City.

A demoralising 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Brentford on Wednesday saw Stuart Pearce's side continue their nosedive down the table, slipping from first place to 11th in under two months.

It must be a horrible case of deja-vu for the fans, who saw their side go from nailed-on playoff contenders to mid-table mediocrity courtesy of a 13-match winless run last season.

It is currently 10 games without a victory for a side who many were tipping as champions elect following their impressive start to the campaign, while they have picked up just one point from the last 15 on offer.

Still, if they can turn their form around sooner rather than later then all will not be lost. They remain just five points adrift of the playoff places and, with the top six all playing each other this weekend, it is as good a chance as any to cut that gap.

Norwich will be thinking very much along the same lines, however, and the Canaries pose a tougher test on paper than recent home matches against Blackburn Rovers and Brentford - both of which Forest lost 3-1.

Pearce could look to make a couple of changes to his side in search of an elusive win that would ease the growing pressure on his shoulders.

While not quite on the same scale as Forest's collapse, Norwich have also suffered their own dip in form in recent weeks and have dropped out of the playoff places as a result.

They too topped the table just a matter of weeks ago, but have now won just one of their last seven outings and were hammered 4-0 by Middlesbrough on Tuesday.

Neil Adams will be looking for a response from his side and, with three of the top six guaranteed to drop points this weekend, Saturday would be the perfect time for them to return to form.

However, that is easier said than done for a side that has failed to score in four of their last five away games, including three in a row since September.

They could be without Kyle Lafferty as they attempt to end that barren spell on the road after the Northern Ireland international came off with a hip injury in the defeat to Middlesbrough.

Recent form

Nottm Forest: LLLDLD

Norwich: LWDDLD

Possible starting lineups

Nottm Forest: Darlow; Hunt, Wilson, Mancienne, Fox; Tesche, Osborn, Burke, Lansbury, Antonio; Assombalonga

Norwich: Ruddy; Martin, Whittaker, Turner, Olsson; Murphy, Johnson, Redmond, Jerome, Tettey; Grabban

Sports Mole says: 1-2