Time to take the next step forward for Reds

NOTTINGHAM Forest begin a run of games today which could provide an indicator of how much progress they have made.

Earlier in Chris Hughton’s reign, the Reds came up short when they took on a succession of top-six sides.

A miserable few weeks from mid-november to December saw them lose six out of seven League fixtures, including defeats to Bournemouth, Swansea City and Reading.

Since then, there has been a marked turnaround in form and Forest go into today’s return match with Bournemouth at the City Ground with one defeat in 10 in the Championship.

They have picked up important wins against Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers, teams around them in the table.

But the next step will be doing the same against sides competing at the other end – with the Swans on the horizon after Bournemouth.

“It can show progress, but it is also another challenge,” said Hughton.

“We went through a challenge when we played what was the top six, one game after each other.

“Apart from the Reading game, where we had a man sent off, we weren’t so far away, in performance level, from any of the other teams but couldn’t find a formula to get the points in those games.

“This will be another test for us.

We’re further along that line now. We’re in good form at the moment.

“We are going to have to find the formulas we couldn’t find before to get something from those games.”

Back-to-back away victories lifted the Reds to 18th, with a four-point gap between them and the relegation zone.

Managerless Bournemouth are sixth, having responded to the sacking of Jason Tindall by picking up three points against Birmingham City and then toppling Burnley in the FA Cup, under the stewardship of caretaker manager Jonathan Woodgate.

“We in the game, never tend to be over-surprised when we hear news even if it’s news we didn’t expect at that particular time,” Hughton said of the departure of Tindall.

“We’re up against a team in Bournemouth who would have expectations of going straight back up after being relegated last season.

“Sometimes that can have an effect on a team, a manager and a club.

“I was probably surprised and disappointed for Jason at the time, but not overly surprised.”

He added: “We are certainly picking up valuable points for where we are in the league.

“The only downside is some of the teams around us are also getting good results and picking up points.

“It means the gap between ourselves and seven or eight teams above us has become that little bit smaller, but it’s not something we can rest on.

“We’re back to playing midweek games in the next few weeks, so two wins on the spin - and certainly three wins on the spin - can make a massive difference.

“We’re in a good period, but we need that to continue.”

The reverse fixture between the two sides, in November, saw the hosts come out on top, 2-0 courtesy of a Junior Stanislas brace.

Hughton feels his team are in a better place this time, however, with January signings Glenn Murray, James Garner and Filip Krovinovic having made an impact.

“I think we’re in better shape at this moment, as regards the run we’re on,” he said. “You’d like to think we’re in more confident form.

“But we know from this division that you have to take every game as it comes, because there is so much quality and so much competition.

“We’ve had two good away results, but we’ve had to work really hard and play well enough in those games to get something from them.

“We’re in better shape than the first game (against them), but that stands for nothing unless you perform, against a very good Bournemouth team. We will have to perform well to win.

“I thought we had a decent performance against them in the away game, but conceded an early goal.

“They have got well-known players and we know the abilities they have. There are a few ways they can play.

“We have to plan more for our way of playing, but we will be playing against a technically very good team.”