Football is back! Nottingham Forest kick-off their final nine games of the resumed Championship season with a trip to Hillsborough to take on Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).
After a three-month break, The Reds are determined to end the season strongly to cement their top-six berth and ensure their season is extended further to include the play-offs.
Sheffield Wednesday have had a mixed season so far and Garry Monk's side will be hoping to put as many points on the board as possible between now and the end of the season.
Team news
Sabri Lamouchi has confirmed that Samba Sow and Tiago Silva are both back in training and available for the trip to Hillsborough after recovering from injuries.
Tendayi Darikwa is also back in full training, as is Nuno Da Costa, with plenty of options for the head coach to choose from for the first game back.
Forest thoughts
Head to head
| Forest wins | Draws | Sheffield Wednesday wins | |
| League | 52 | 24 | 57 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| League Cup | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 54 | 27 | 64 |
From the opposition
Sheffield Wednesday boss Garry Monk feels that his squad have had some good practice with training matches at an empty Hillsborough to get used to the conditions for Saturday's match.
He said: “Judging on what I’ve seen from the players in the couple of practice matches we’ve had, and that was the point of it - to get used to that, to understand that that’s the way that football is for what will probably be the foreseeable future.
“All you can do is prepare, and that’s what we tried to do last week. Get them out there and get that taste for it, and they dealt with it well.
“We had two really good practice matches, and some really good things came out of it. That’s all you can do, and everyone is aware of what it’s going to be like. But how it is when you’re playing against opposition when there’s points on the line, that’s when it becomes more of a reality.
“I can see a different focus in a few of them that’s different from before and an attitude that’s different from before, and we’re hoping that all of that - along with our preparations - will stand us in good stead.”
Watch the match live
Nottingham Forest supporters are reminded that they can watch Saturday's trip to Sheffield Wednesday live on iFollow Forest.
For only £10, you can purchase a match pass to watch live and exclusive coverage of Forest’s clash with The Owls including commentary from BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray.
To purchase a match pass, simply visit nottinghamforest.co.uk/ifollow/subscribe, scroll down to the match passes section and click ‘Purchase Now’ next to the Sheffield Wednesday fixture.
Season card holders who have selected option 1 from the refund options will be able to watch all The Reds' remaining games free of charge on iFollow Forest. For more information, please click here.
There will also be full match coverage available via the club's official social media channels and in the Match Centre.
Referee
Robert Jones is the referee in charge of Saturday's match, his fourth Forest match of the season. He has already taken charge of the 1-1 draw at Leeds, the 1-0 home defeat against Cardiff and the 0-0 draw against QPR.
In total, he has overseen 27 matches, showing 89 yellow cards and no red cards.
Rule changes
For these remaining nine fixtures, the EFL has introduced some temporary changes to matchday rules:
- The number of players in a matchday squad will increase from 18 to 20
- The number of substitutions permitted in a match will increase to five, with a maximum of three opportunities to make these changes (plus half-time)
- Players and match officials will have a staggered entry to the pitch
- There will be no pre-match handshakes. Players to take up on pitch positions in the same half as they warmed up ready for kick-off
- Social distancing measures should be maintained whenever possible including during goal celebrations, in the warm-up, when entering and leaving the pitch, and at all times with the match officials
Other fixtures
To be played at 3pm on Saturday unless otherwise stated:
Fulham vs Brentford (12.30pm)
Middlesbrough vs Swansea (12.30pm)
Millwall vs Derby (1pm)
Blackburn vs Bristol City
Huddersfield vs Wigan
Hull vs Charlton
Luton vs Preston
QPR vs Barnsley
Reading vs Stoke
West Brom vs Birmingham
Cardiff vs Leeds (Sunday, 12pm)