Nottingham breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday as a packed City Ground saw Forest cruise to a 3-0 win over Ipswich Town, securing their status as a Championship side.

It was an extremely tense afternoon, possibly more so after relegation rivals Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City took early leads over Brentford and Bristol City respectively.

Wins for them and anything but a win for Forest would have seen the Tricky Trees trickle down to League One, but goals from Britt Assombalonga and Chris Cohen sealed their fate, and Rovers were relegated.

Manager Mark Warburton faces a busy summer as they attempt to climb up the table and back into a position where they can fight for Premier League football.

Given the exploits of Fulham, Huddersfield and Reading, there's no reason to say that Forest can't make a play-off push next year, and here are THREE reasons why they could do it.....

 

Fawaz is finally going

Despised in Nottingham, Forest's owner Fawaz Al Hasawi appears to finally be leaving the club after five years at the helm, much to the relief of the City Ground faithful.

The 'Fawaz Out' campaign has been a sizeable part of Forest's season as fans grew restless with the lack of investment and poor management of the club.

He does appear to finally be leaving, however, and if incoming owner Evangelos Marinakis is ready to invest in the squad, Forest could have a very quick turn around and move straight upwards.

Mark Warburton is in charge

I'm an enormous fan of Mark Warburton and I think the job he did as Brentford was just brilliant, and I think he can turn a similar trick with Nottingham Forest.

Clearly, this man can spot talented players and can bring them in for a minimal fee, as shown in the summer before the 2014/15 season, where he did a fine job in prepping his squad for second tier football.

Brentford's assault on the play offs in 2014/15 shows that Warburton knows what it takes to get a team playing well consistently at this level, and there's no reason he can't do the same with Nottingham Forest.

Britt Assombalonga

This man is so good that he alone is a reason why Forest can break into the top six next year.

His outing against Ipswich last weekend shows just how good he can be, and how much the club has missed him during a season enormously affected by injury.

He is a born goalscorer; powerful, quick and a deadly finish.

Forest are blessed enough to have one of the best strikers in the division, on his day, amongst their ranks, and if they can find a way to keep him fit, he could be vital next season.

Forest fans... What do you make of this? Where do you think you'll finish next season? Let us know in the comments below!