I think we can safely conclude that the honeymoon period is over for Steve Cotterill. Things haven’t been going well recently, although everyone who went to the Amex Stadium last week reckons that the performance was much better.
Forest may still be missing Joel Lynch and it is not quite clear whether George Boateng and/or Matty Derbyshire will be returning to the squad. However, Andy Reid is back after his one-match suspension, and Garath McCleary and Paul Anderson will be hoping to retain their places, whilst Dexter Blackstock will most likely remain on the bench – it would be good to see him on the City Ground pitch for a few minutes though, wouldn’t it? As you probably know by now, Ishmael Miller is pretty fragile for a big lad, and will be out until the New Year with a damaged metatarsal (did they even exist before 2002?).
Palace are resolutely mid-table but are on an indifferent run at the moment, so really the Reds should be looking to capitalise. However, it is generally accepted that Dougie Freedman (who I never felt got a fair chance at Forest) is doing a good job there. He won’t be able to call upon on-loan Dekel Keinan or former Reds target Jonathan Parr though, as they join Sean Scannell and former Derby thug Dean Moxey (who was sent off against Forest at the end of last season) on the injury list.
After an enforced break, we will once again be offering live match updates on our Twitter feed from 2pm, with a post-match podcast to follow