Any faint hope that Nottingham Forest had of sneaking into the play-off places is fading rapidly and last night's resounding defeat to Sheffield Wednesday only worsened the situation.

Martin O'Neill rung the changes in the Reds line-up with the likes of Sam Byram, Marvin Appiah and Luke Steele all called upon to start.

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After an uneventful first half, it was Wednesday who flew out of the traps at the start of the second when George Boyd set-up Marco Matias to give the home side the lead in the 47th minute.

It was 2-0 just 11 minutes later when Lucas Joao's pass found its way to Boyd on the left-hand side of the box who then lashed a brilliant shot across Steele and into the net before Matias notched his second in the 68th minute to kill off the game.

Before the match, there was much excitement at the appearance of Forest youth product Arvin Appiah in the first-team, but he was withdrawn with still over 20 minutes of the match to play, replaced by Pele.

But how will the 18-year-old feel after having his night ended early?

I imagine he will rather perplexed at O'Neill's decision.

Appiah was playing pretty well out on the wing in what was a rare opportunity for him so for O'Neill to bring on a central-midfielder in his place with a good chunk of the match left to play must have baffled him.

I am sure Appiah will get many more chances before the season is finished but it is a strange move, nonetheless.