Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Lee Camp says it is "squeaky bum time" going into the final 12 games of the season, as Forest look to push back into the Championship's automatic promotion places.
The Reds suffered their fifth away defeat in a row against Leicester on Saturday, going down 3-0 at the Walkers stadium, which dropped Forest down to third in the league.
Camp is aware of the importance of the remaining games of the season and that promotion back to the Premier League lies entirely in the Forest players' hands.
Despite their recent poor away form, the Forest keeper is not dazed by upcoming trips to Preston and Newcastle, and is confident that the Reds have the mental strength to form a strong run of results until the end of the campaign.
"It is a huge challenge," said Camp. "In the top eight it is squeaky bum and the pressure is well and truly on, it's a battle of the wills and a case of who will blink first.
"Anyone who takes their eyes of the prize could easily crumble away. We have a strong team though and the players know how important it is to keep playing well and picking up the points."
While Forest face some challenging ties in the upcoming weeks, Camp would rather play the teams in the top half of the table, as he believes the teams fighting to avoid relegation will be even more desperate to pick up the points needed to ensure survival.
"For the teams at the bottom there is a massive pressure being down there, it is horrible to say it but it is all about money, there are jobs on the line and if you go down your salary goes down too.
"The last thing they will want is to go into the last ten or so games really scrapping because when it gets to that point teams become more desperate and much harder to play against.
"They are fighting for their lives and in terms of being relegated I would say there is a lot more pressure on them than on us.
"At the same time I don't mind who we play though because I am confident we can beat anybody. It would be nice to beat the teams around us but it does not matter who we beat it just matters that we are in the top two spots at the end of the season."
By Jack Woodfield
