Tag Archives: promotion

Forest to fire promotion message

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Nottingham Forest have the first of two chances to use games in hand on their rivals to jump into the Championship’s automatic promotion places (10/11 Promotion) when they travel to struggling Scunthorpe United on Wednesday evening.

Billy Davies’ men have stormed up the table in recent weeks with a ten-game unbeaten run to leave them handily-placed in fourth position and just two points behind second-placed Cardiff – who blew their opportunity to cement their place in the top two by being held to a 1-1 draw against Burnley on Tuesday.

Sunday’s 1-1 draw at league leaders QPR, despite being down to ten men for most of the Loftus Road encounter, highlighted Forest as real contenders for not only promotion but possibly the title (9/2 Outright) as they could move to within a point of Neil Warnock’s Rs if they win their two games in hand.

Forest have to travel to struggling Middlesbrough on March 1 to catch up on their previously postponed fixtures, but they will look to leap-frog Norwich and Cardiff this evening with a maximum haul from their game at Glanford Park.

Davies will be without Radoslaw Majewski, who must serve a three-match suspension following his red card at QPR, while fellow midfielder Guy Moussi is out with a thigh injury.

However, Forest should have more than enough to see off the Iron, who are seven points adrift of safety in second-bottom spot in the table following a run of 12 defeats in their last 14 and have won only once at home all season.

Ian Baraclough’s side will be without striker Joe Garner under the terms of his loan from Forest, but Chris Dagnall should be back in contention. Defenders Rob Jones and David Mirfin are doubtful and Garry Thompson is still about four weeks away from a return.

Forest boast the best defensive record in the Championship on their travels, while Scunthorpe are poor at home and have failed to score in seven of their last ten league matches.

Everything points to a 3-0 win for Forest (12/1 Correct Score), but the fact they battled on to earn a point with ten men at QPR could impact on their energy levels and subsequently play a part on the outcome of the game.

Add to that Scunthorpe’s desperation for points to try and save themselves from the drop back into League One and it might be a closer affair than many would anticipate looking at the stats ahead of the game.

Prediction: Nottingham Forest To Score In Both Halves @ 7/4
Value Bet: Forest To Win 2-1 @ 7/1

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The Championship promotion race

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QPR currently have a seven point lead at the top of the Championship and look as if they’re heading towards the promise land of the Premier League but the other promotion spots are very much up for grabs, with just 10 points separating second placed Nottingham Forest and Hull City, who are currently 12th (QPR 4/6 – Championship outright).

Forest (11/10 to be promoted) have been on a fantastic run and have not tasted defeat in the league since way back on November 29, when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Leicester.  Boss Billy Davies has a good pedigree in the division, having led Derby, Preston and Forest into the play-offs in recent years and the Scottish manager will be desperate to go one better than last season, where Forest were knocked out in the semi-finals by Blackpool.

Cardiff (6/4 promotion) have the considerable talents of Craig Bellamy, Michael Chopra and Peter Whittingham to call upon and at the start of the season many were tipping the beaten play-off finalists to mount a challenge for the title.  The Bluebirds started the campaign well, despite the disappointment of missing out on promotion, but have stuttered of late.  However, Cardiff did manage to secure a 1-0 win at the home of bitter rivals Swansea last time out and if they can rediscover their best form the Welsh side could well challenge for the title, they trail QPR by eight points at the moment but they have a game in hand (Cardiff 6/1 – Championship outright).

Swansea (3/1 promotion) occupy a play-off spot at present and have produced some impressive displays over the course of the season to date.  The Swans play an exciting, attacking brand of football and despite their derby disappointment last weekend should be able to secure a top six finish.  The Liberty Stadium side do not have the same financial backing as the likes of Cardiff and QPR but Swansea seem to have a great team spirit and work well as a unit, all the ingredients are there for the South Wales side to be this season’s Blackpool.

Leeds (10/3 promotion) and Norwich (5/2) were both playing in League One last season but the duo have settled into life in the Championship quickly and are both in the top six at this stage of the season.  In Grant Holt Norwich have a top class striker but he has struggled of late and if they are to continue their push for the second automatic spot the frontman will have to get back amongst the goals sooner rather than later, although he did grab his first goal in six games in the loss at Burnley last time out.

Leeds also have some decent players and could well hang onto their spot in the top six, but the Yorkshire side have a woeful record in the play-offs in recent seasons, both in the Championship and League One, and will probably have to finish second if they’re to go up this season.

Millwall (12/1 promotion), Leicester (4/1), Watford (9/1), Burnley (4/1), Reading (6/1) and Hull (12/1) are also involved in the battle to secure a play-off spot and they will all be confident they can pick up enough points between now and the end of the season to secure a top six spot.  Reading have been in fine form of late and were unlucky not to take all three points in their recent draw with Cardiff, while QPR inflicted a narrow 1-0 defeat on the Royals at the Madjeski Stadium last time out.  Hull have also been on an impressive run of late and of the chasing pack I would suggest Reading are the most likely side to break into the play-off spots, while at 12/1 the Tigers look good value considering they have lost just once in their last 15 league games.

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Davies ready for promotion push

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Nottingham Forest are amongst the favourites to secure promotion to the Premier League ahead of the new season and boss Billy Davies insists he is up for the challenge (Forest 13/5 to secure promotion to the Premier League).

Forest were beaten in the play-off semi-finals by Blackpool last season, with the Seasiders eventually getting the better of Cardiff in the final to secure a place in England’s top flight, and Davies is eager to ensure Forest go one better this season.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge and I know the players and my staff feel exactly the same way,” Davies told the club’s official website.

“I always relish the start of a new season. There’s great optimism but as ever there’s also great passion and commitment as well.

“It’s a fantastic challenge again for us – there are exciting times to look forward to, so bring it on.”

Davies has plenty of Championship experience to draw on as he bids to bring success to the City Ground.  The Scottish manager led Preston to the play-off final in 2005, only to see North End miss out to Watford, before leading Derby County to promotion in the 2006/2007 season with a play-off final victory over West Brom.

Davies was axed early the following season by the Rams after a dreadful start to their Premier League campaign but he has since rebuilt his reputation at Forest and many are tipping Davies to lead the Reds to promotion.

However, the Forest boss has largely struggled to secure his transfer targets during the close season and he has basically the same squad at his disposal as he did during the previous campaign.  The considerable talents of goalkeeper Lee Camp, midfielder trio Paul McKenna (captain), Chris Cohen and Polish star Radosaw Majewski will surely help Forest push for promotion, while forwards Nathan Tyson and Rob Earnshaw are always capable of finding the back of the net given the chance and there is still plenty of time left ahead of the close of the transfer window on September 1 for Davies to add to his side.

Middlesbrough, under the guidance of Gordon Strachan, are the current 19/10 favourites to secure promotion to the Premier League with Totesport.  Neil Warnock is also being tipped to take QPR (7/2) back into the top flight after doing his deals early in the summer, while Burnley, who have managed to keep the majority of their squad together, are priced at 18/5 to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

The likes of Leciester City (9/2), last season’s beaten play-off finalists Cardiff City (5/1) and Bristol City (11/2), who signed England goalkeeper David James earlier this month, will also be gunning for promotion and the Championship promises very competitive ahead of the big kick off.

Forest travel to Burnley for their season opener tomorrow, with Davies eager to lead the City Ground side into the Premier League (Match Betting – Burnley 6/5, draw 9/4, Forest 21/10).

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