Nottingham Forest will be hoping to get back to winning ways as they welcome Barnsley to the City Ground.

The Reds had been showing signs of improvement under Chris Hughton as they enjoyed a seven-match unbeaten run through December and January.

However things have gone south in the last week.

A 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough ended their positive sequence of results, before a heavy defeat at the hands of Swansea City last weekend well and truly knocked the stuffing out of the team.

With Forest sitting in 20th position there's a real need to pick up some positive results and a clash with Barnsley could be the opportunity to do just that.

As for the Tykes it's been a good season so far.

The South Yorkshire side find themselves sitting in 12th position in the Championship and after beating Norwich City in the FA Cup last weekend they even picked up a decent point against Cardiff City midweek.

Valérien Ismaël will be hoping to continue that positive run against Forest.

David Prutton is Sky Sports' EFL expert and made his prediction for the game, claiming that he thought a 1-1 draw was the most likely outcome.

Quiz: Did these 20 things happen to Nottingham Forest in 2020?

 

The Verdict

Nottingham Forest will be hoping to get a good result here.

Their season needs a kickstart and a home match against Barnsley seems like the ideal opportunity in which to get three points.

Of course the Tykes are in good form, but for Chris Hughton's side this is certainly a big opportunity.