Nottingham Forest will be looking to return to winning ways in the Championship when they welcome Millwall to the City Ground on Friday night.

Sabri Lamouchi's team have only won one of their last five in the league but are still fourth in the table, while Millwall currently sit 10th, five points outside of the playoff positions in the second tier.

Match preview

Forest's form in the latter stages of December and throughout January was exceptional, with the team threatening to break into the top two during an excellent run of results.

Lamouchi's side have only won one of their last five in the Championship, though, drawing three of their last four against West Bromwich Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Middlesbrough.

The Reds need victories rather than draws at this stage of the season, although they are still in a strong position in the table, sitting fourth with 60 points to show from their 36 matches.

Forest are six points clear of seventh-placed Bristol City but sit eight behind second-placed Leeds United, suggesting that the playoffs is the best that they can hope for come the end of the campaign.

Their recent form against Millwall is not the best, though, failing to win any of their last four meetings. That said, the reverse clash in London earlier this season finished in a 2-2 draw.

Millwall picked up a decent point at home to Bristol City last weekend, but the Lions have only won one of their last eight in the Championship to drop off the pace when it comes to the top six.

The gap from 10th-placed Millwall to sixth-placed Preston North End is only five points, though, and a positive result on Friday night would certainly boost the London side's hopes of making the playoffs.

Gary Rowett's side have actually only lost nine times in the league this season, although 15 draws - the joint-highest in the division - has prevented them from pushing higher up the table.

As mentioned, the Lions have a strong recent record against Forest, but they have not won a league match at the City Ground for over five years.

Nottingham Forest Championship form: WLDDWD

Millwall Championship form: LDWLDD

Team News

Forest will be without key midfielder Tiago Silva for the next few weeks due to appendicitis, while Tendayi Darikwa and Nuno da Costa remain on the sidelines for the home side.

Samba Sow could return from a knee injury to feature, though, in what would be a big boost having missed his team's last three Championship matches.

Ryan Yates should keep his spot in the starting XI having scored against Boro last time out, while Lewis Grabban, who has scored 17 league goals this season, will again lead the line for the promotion hopefuls.

Having not suffered any fresh problems at the Riverside Stadium, it would not be a surprise to see Lamouchi opt for the same side.

As for Millwall, Ben Thompson and Ryan Leonard remain on the sidelines through ankle and knee injuries respectively, but Shaun Williams could return from a hip problem to feature.

Like Forest, the Lions did not pick up any fresh concerns against Bristol City last weekend.

Mason Bennett is pushing for a spot in the starting XI, potentially at the expense of Connor Mahoney, although Tom Bradshaw and Matt Smith are set to continue in the final third of the field.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Cash, Worrall, Figueiredo, Ribeiro; Ameobi, Watson, Yates, Semedo, Lolley; Grabban

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Romeo, Hutchinson, Cooper, M Wallace; J Wallace, Woods, Molumby, Mahoney; Bradshaw, Smith

We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Millwall

Both teams will be desperate to return to winning ways on Friday night, but we just have a feeling for Forest. The Reds have had their problems at the City Ground this season, although we expect them to pick up all three points at the conclusion of a hard-fought 90 minutes of football.