This promises to be one of the more exciting fixtures of the weekend as a reformed Portsmouth side take on Nottingham Forest. There were doubts last week that Portsmouth would see out the season, with major financial problems threatening their survival. However, those now appear to have been resolved and Pompey can concentrate on building on the great form they’ve put together over the past few weeks. Nottingham Forest on the other hand have been steady all season and with the City Ground outfit in 10th, Billy Davies will see potential for his side to challenge the top six.
Portsmouth’s season can be described as nothing but a rollercoaster and having only picked up their first win well over a month and a half into the season, it would be fair to say their start was nothing short of disastrous. However, Steve Cotterill’s men have completely turned their campaign around in recent weeks and they are now one of the in-form teams of the division. They have won five out of their last six propelling them right the way up into 13th and the optimists must be hoping for a playoff push in the next few weeks. Of course, it could have been so different after this time last week the Fratton Park outfit were faced with a winding up order. Fortunately, all of the financial issues appear to be resolved, but the very fact Portsmouth are still alive is a miracle considering their vast debts.
Nottingham Forest were another side who didn’t enjoy the best of starts to the season, yet Billy Davies’ men also look to have put that behind them and they’ll also be targeting a top six push. Forest sit a few places above Portsmouth in 10th position and with just two points separating them from 6th, it looks as though their season is well and truly back on track. They come into this game having lost just once in their last twelve league games, as well as recording consecutive victories in their last two. It would be fair to say that Davies’ side are a much different prospect to last season and the fact they’ve drawn an incredible seven games already shows just how hard they are to beat.
Steve Cotterill could hand a start to Ricardo Rocha after the Portuguese defender missed Pompey’s last game with Hull due to a hamstring problem. However, Hermann Hreidarsson is unlikely to start although the veteran might be able to scrape a place on the bench as he slowly recovers from his long term injury. As for Nottingham Forest, Billy Davies is likely to throw Ryan Bertrand back into the starting eleven after the defender missed their last game through suspension. Both Rob Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson are huge doubts though as injuries hinder them though.
There’s no doubting that it takes a lot to beat Nottingham Forest these days, but we think Portsmouth have a great chance here. Pompey are in superb form at the moment and as they hold the home advantage, we’ll predict a narrow 1-0 victory for Steve Cotterill’s side.
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