Nottingham Forest picked up an important 3-1 win over play-off rivals Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday evening.

Steve Cooper's men came back from 1-0 down to pull off a memorable second half rally, in one of many outstanding late displays at the City Ground this season.

Former Forest manager Mark Warburton would have been frustrated with the way his side capitulated with Lee Wallace taking the gloves for the final few minutes after David Marshall was forced off with a hamstring injury.

What happened?

Ilias Chair replaced Chris Willock in the first half with the former suffering a knock to his hamstring, and the Moroccan supplied the assist for Andre Gray's excellent finish in the closing exchanges of the first half.

Djed Spence's screamer levelled proceedings early in the second period and got the ball rolling for the hosts to comeback and claim three points.

The West Londoners switched off at a corner in the 83rd minute, allowing Ryan Yates to get in front of his man and flick the ball into a dangerous area, with a deflection off Rob Dickie ending up in the back of the net.

Two substitutes combined in Sam Surridge and Cafu, before the latter was thwarted by Marshall, but he recovered well to lay off for Brennan Johnson to fire home to seal the three points.

Who stood out?

It was an outstanding second half performance from the Reds, Spence, James Garner, Yates and even Jack Colback at left wing back performed very well as they thrived off the support from the stands.

Spence was arguably the standout for his moment of sheer brilliance and he could have registered an assist if Keinan Davis was more clinical with a second half header.

Who disappointed?

Dion Sanderson and Lee Wallace had a very difficult task of handling Spence and Johnson down the right hand side.

It was quite a harsh environment to throw the Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee into and especially playing on his weaker left side.

Losing Willock early on was a hammer blow, but it was more a case of Forest's excellence in the second period than QPR's level dropping, although they will be frustrated to concede a soft second goal from a set piece.

 

 

What is the mood?

Forest supporters are enjoying the ride at the moment and will be very excited of the prospect of taking on Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in their own backyard on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rangers will be fearing for their position inside the top six.