Nottingham Forest and Luton Town square off in the Championship on Tuesday evening looking for the victory which should take them into the top 10 of the standings.
Both teams have found victories in short supply, however, and the pressure has increased ahead of trying to keep in close proximity to the playoffs.
Match preview
After suffering just one defeat to Fulham in his 10 games in charge of Forest, you will be hard pressed to find any sustained negativity for Steve Cooper.
Nevertheless, there is a feeling that Forest have failed to build on their lightning start under the head coach, Saturday's 1-1 draw at Reading their third stalemate in five outings.
Overall, Forest have collected 19 points from their last 10 games, but they have shown at times that they have the firepower to be sitting much closer to the playoffs.
The biggest plus during Cooper's short reign has been the consistency in defence with just seven goals being conceded in nine games when you put the Fulham capitulation to the side.
Despite the wide-ranging improvements under Cooper, Forest remain with the second-worst home record in the division, a statistic that he will want to change as soon as possible.
As far as Luton are concerned, Nathan Jones is eager for his Hatters squad to rediscover the form which saw them placed in the top six earlier in the campaign.
Luton have recorded three defeats without netting a goal in four matches, the latest coming on Friday as they went down 2-0 to Queens Park Rangers.
The only strikes that they have scored in nine halves of football came during a five-minute spell versus Middlesbrough, yet they still remain with the sixth-best attacking record in the Championship.
Just nine points have been recorded from as many fixtures on the road, Luton not winning away from home since a 2-0 triumph at Millwall on October 16.
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
Gaetan Bong is expected to come into the Forest XI after Max Lowe picked up an injury at Reading.
James Garner will likely get the nod over Ryan Yates, who is suspended, while Joao Carvalho is an option in a creative area.
Amari'i Bell may return to the Luton XI after the experiment of using Fred Onyedinma at wing-back failed to pay off.
At least one of Cameron Jerome and Admiral Muskwe are expected to be recalled in attack as Jones looks for a solution to Luton's lack of goals.
Gabriel Osho could be restored to the midfield in place of Allan Campbell.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Spence, Worrall, McKenna, Bong; Yates, Colback; Lolley, Zinckernagel, Johnson; Grabban
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Bree, Lockyer, Bradley, Naismith, Bell; Osho, Mpanzu, Lansbury; Muskwe, Adebayo
We say: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Luton Town
With Luton having dropped off in the final third, we can only back a Forest win. Although Cooper's side have also lost their way to a certain degree, they have been able to bounce back in front of their own supporters in the past.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
