Nottingham Forest fans' message to stars as Cardiff City and

Nottingham Forest fans' message to stars as Cardiff City and Swansea look to oust them from top six

The Midlands club suffered a shock defeat by Barnsley last weekend and now South Wales rivals Swansea City and Cardiff City are hot on their tails.


Tuesday 21/07/20



Nottingham Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi admits he is in for a 'difficult' final day of the season as the club's fans urged the players to draw on the magnitude of the occasion in order to bounce back from the shock defeat by Barnsley.

Forest could have sealed their spot in the play-offs last weekend, needing only a point in their match against the lowly Tykes, but a 94th-minute winner from Patrick Schmidt ensured Gerhard Struber's men stole all three points.

The result has left the door ajar heading into Wednesday night's finale, with it still mathematically possible for both Cardiff City and Swansea City to leapfrog Forest, which would oust Sabri Lamouchi's men from the play-off spots.

And Lamouchi has admitted that, despite still needing only a point to ensure they are out of reach for the Swans, their clash against Stoke City is going to be difficult.

"I know my players deserve to be in the play-offs," he said . "But to say that is not enough, we need to show more than that,” he said.

“We need to be more concrete, more pragmatic and more clever. We can say three weeks ago we can save the play-offs. But our reality is we need to keep our feet on the floor and be realistic.

“We need to fight until the end. We need to suffer until the end. And we will see what happens.

“My players want to play the play-offs and we will do everything for that. It will be difficult and tough.

“But, do it. Dream it, do it.”

What the fans have said

Schmidt's late strike on the weekend sent shockwaves through Forest fans, who were doubtless already dreaming of getting back in the big time next season.

The City Ground outfit, of course, is steeped in rich history, having won the European Cup twice, the FA Cup twice and the First Division title back in 1978.

But Forest have not been in the Premier League this century, having been relegated down to the second tier back in 1999 and this next week or two represents a huge opportunity for them to finally bounce back up to the top flight.

And the City Ground faithful have sent their messages of support and encouragement to their players ahead of the huge clash in response to a question posed by NottinghamLive.

Vassilis Poulakos : "Do it for yourselves. You deserve it. New team, new manager, against all odds and some atrocious refereeing decisions, the only fair thing is the playoffs. You can do it."

Christophe Frost : "They need to be responsible for the awful performance and need to know that what a tough final day it’s going to be to secure a place in the playoffs."

Steve Parkes: "Take them to the trophy room show them what a success Nottingham Forest were with a good team."

Javier Alejandro: "We need a point. Just a point."

Neil Francis: "Play like it's your last game, or it might just be."

John Leighton: "Play simple but clever football and fight, fight, fight for success in the knowledge that success will provide a meal and future for your children. COYR!"

David Dallimore: "Go for the win Wednesday, and play as if you want to win."

The forest fans are very touchy up here and the Derby lot are praying for them to fail.

I personally can't see them missing out of the play offs. The Jacks will need to turn around a comfortable goal difference in favour of Forest. Its not impossible but I can't see the Jacks getting a big result at Reading nor can I see Stoke winning comfortable at the Forest ground. I can see us jumping above Forest though which I believe is what we will want to do.

I can see them getting humiliated by Brentford/Fulham if they do make it...