Preview: Nottingham Forest vs. Sheffield Wednesday - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides enduring torrid spells of form in the Championship will do battle at The City Ground on Tuesday evening as Nottingham Forest play host to Sheffield Wednesday.

The visitors are rooted to the bottom of the table after 18 matches, while goal difference is the only thing keeping Forest out of the relegation zone.

Match preview

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In fairness, Nottingham Forest have had to navigate a daunting run of fixtures against promotion-chasing sides recently, with Chris Hughton 's men facing every top-six team in their last six matches.

Forest have only been able to take one point from a possible 18 in that run - a goalless stalemate with Watford - and the Reds were no match for Brentford as Thomas Frank 's men eased to a 3-1 win on Forest's turf on Saturday.

Henrik Dalsgaard, Josh Dasilva and Ivan Toney - unsurprisingly - all notched up goals at the weekend for Brentford, with Joe Worrall 's last-gasp header for the hosts quickly overshadowed by Anthony Knockaert 's dismissal in the dying embers for simulation.

However, Brentford manager Frank has given Hughton his seal of approval and believes that the 62-year-old will steer Forest to safety, and a showdown with an equally poor Sheffield Wednesday is certainly an ideal starting point for a revival.

Derby County and Wycombe Wanderers could both leapfrog Forest with wins this week if Hughton's men lose again, but with the other two strugglers facing Bournemouth and Swansea City respectively, that scenario seems highly unlikely.

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Tony Pulis is yet to weave his magic at Sheffield Wednesday since his recent arrival, and the Owls are the only side in the division yet to hit the double-figure point mark - although their six-point deduction must be taken into account in that regard.

Pulis's side came up against another team who have switched managers at the weekend, but Valerien Ismael 's Barnsley came out on top as they won 2-1 at Hillsborough on Saturday, with Cauley Woodrow and Dominik Frieser netting after Josh Windass initially opened the scoring for the Owls.

Wednesday are now winless in the second tier since a 1-0 triumph over Bournemouth in the first weekend of the season, and their opening-day victory over Cardiff City remains the only time that the Owls have notched up more than one goal in a league game this term.

Furthermore, the Championship's basement side have only managed to overcome Forest once in their last 11 meetings with the Reds, with this week's hosts taking the spoils in nine of those matches.

Nottingham Forest Championship form: LLDLLL

Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: DDDLLL

Team News

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Injuries and suspensions have forced Hughton's hand recently, and the Forest manager will have to make do without Knockaert for this one after his sending off at the weekend, while Tobias Figueiredo 's five yellows rules him out of this one too.

Ryan Yates returned from a ban of his own against Brentford, while Scott McKenna is getting closer to a comeback but will not be fit in time for this one, so Michael Dawson or Loic Mbe Soh should deputise for Figueiredo at centre-back.

Tyler Blackett and Fouad Bachirou have both made their returns to the training pitches, and Lewis Grabban is also stepping up his recovery but will not be ready just yet.

Pulis revealed after the loss to Barnsley that Dominic Iorfa will have to undergo surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon - effectively ruling him out for the season.

Julian Borner was unable to take part at the weekend following his facial injury in the midweek loss to Huddersfield Town and is also touch and go for this one, while Aden Flint and Jack Marriott are both still out.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Samba; Christie, Worrall, Soh, Ribiero; Yates, Cafu; Lolley, Arter, Ameobi; Taylor

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Wildsmith; Palmer, Lees, Dunkley, Odubajo; Harris, Bannan, Luongo, Paterson, Reach; Windass

We say: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Forest do boast a terrific recent record against Wednesday, and Hughton will be desperate to use this game as a catalyst for change with the difficult fixtures out of the way for now. Wednesday's position is becoming more perilous by the week and Pulis must look to turn his side's fortunes around before the new year, but we are backing Forest to be the ones to end their winless streak with a much-needed triumph in midweek.

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