Nottingham Forest face a huge clash this weekend against arch-rivals Derby County, where a victory would not only give Philippe Montanier's side bragging rights but would also significantly bolster the club's push for promotion.

Following last Friday's dramatic victory over league leaders Newcastle, Forest can move just one point behind their rivals with a victory this weekend and that result would leave them on the brink of the play-off spots, depending on how the weekend's other fixtures pan out.

Defeat on the other hand could leave Forest nine points behind the top-six, leaving them with a huge gap to overhaul in the second-half of the season, which might give Montanier's men too much to do in the New Year and beyond.

Fortunately though, the omens are good for Forest and they'll fancy their chances of taking all three points this weekend. Here, we've identified two main reasons why they'll end up victorious.

Momentum

Whilst Derby County have been on a strong run of their own, Forest will be full of confidence after putting a spanner in the works of Newcastle's bid for the Championship title last weekend and that morale-boosting win should ignite the travelling supporters this weekend.

Having scored nine goals in their past three Championship matches, Forest have turned a corner this season and will now look for consistency having previously secured just one win in their last eight fixtures.

Recent history

Although the two rivals exchanged victories in their two fixtures last season, Nottingham Forest have the best record in recent history as their defeat at Pride Park last season was only their second in the last seven meetings with their great rivals.

Prior to that, Forest had enjoyed back-to-back victories over Derby and the last time the Rams can claim similar was four years ago.

In the early 2000's, Derby had the advantage but the tide has now turned in Forest's favour.