Match preview: Forest vs Stoke in association with Football Index

22 July 2020

Check out all you need to know ahead of Nottingham Forest's match against Stoke City in the match preview, in association with Football Index.

Nottingham Forest's final match of the regular season takes place tonight and there is plenty at stake as they face Stoke City at The City Ground (kick-off 7.30pm).

The Reds need just one point to secure their place in the top six, while a win would secure fifth place in the table and mean Forest face the fourth-placed side in the play-offs.

Stoke arrive on Trentside knowing that their place in the Championship is secure, with their 1-0 win against Brentford last weekend ensuring their survival.

Team news

Sabri Lamouchi is hopeful that he could have some key players return for the match against Stoke having overcome some slight injuries.

Click here for the full team news.

Forest thoughts

Sabri Lamouchi

Head to head

	Forest wins	Draws	Stoke wins
League	42	29	30
League Cup	1	0	0
FA Cup	2	2	1
Total	45	31	31

Forest last did the double over Stoke in 1980-81
Forest have lost just one of the last seven meetings between the two sides in all competitions
Forest are unbeaten in the last seven meetings at The City Ground in all comeptitions, winning five and losing one of the last 19
Stoke’s only win at Forest in the last 54 years was 3-2 in September 1993
Forest have kept a clean sheet in the last five league meetings at The City Ground. Going further back, they have kept 13 clean sheets in the last 15

Last time out

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From the opposition

Stoke manager Michael O'Neill is looking to finish their season on a high after the 1-0 win against Brentford last weekend secured their Championship safety.

Stoke's last five

W - Stoke 4-0 Barnsley (04/07/20)
L - Leeds 5-0 Stoke (09/07/20)
W - Stoke 2-0 Birmingham (12/07/20)
D - Bristol City 1-1 Stoke (15/07/20)
W - Stoke 1-0 Brentford (18/07/20)

Coverage

Nottingham Forest supporters are able to watch the full 90 minutes against Stoke City 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 Potters 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 Stoke 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

Gavin Ward will be the man in charge of Wednesday night's game at The City Ground.

The official from Surrey has taken charge of 31 games so far this season, showing 109 yellow cards and three reds.

He oversaw Forest's 2-1 win at Luton back in November in his only other Forest game this season. Ward has overseen four Forest games in total in his career, including the 1-0 home defeat against QPR last season, the 2-1 League Cup win at Millwall in August 2016 and a 2-1 home defeat against Hull in December 2012.

Other fixtures

All fixutes to be played at 7.30pm on Wednesday:

Birmingham vs Derby
Brentford vs Barnsley
Bristol City vs Preston
Cardiff vs Hull
Leeds vs Charlton
Luton vs Blackburn
Millwall vs Huddersfield
Reading vs Swansea
Sheffield Wednesday vs Middlesbrough
West Brom vs QPR
Wigan vs Fulham

Match Previews

Match Reports

Forest 1-4 Stoke

22 July 2020

Nottingham Forest's play-off hopes were extinguished on the final day of the season as they were beaten 4-1 at home by Stoke City.

The defeat, coupled with Swansea winning at Reading by the same scoreline, saw the Welsh side leapfrog The Reds into sixth place and leave Forest outside the top six on goal difference.

Sabri Lamouchi made four changes from the 1-0 defeat at Barnsley on Sunday as Matty Cash, Sammy Ameobi, Ryan Yates and Joe Lolley came into the side in place of Carl Jenkinson, Michael Dawson, Tiago Silva and Nuno Da Costa.

Stoke made the brighter start at The City Ground but the first opportunity fell Forest's way. Cash picked the ball up 20 yards from goal just right of centre but his powerful strike whistled over the top of Adam Davies' crossbar and into the flags in the Bridgford Stand.

The Reds were playing with confidence in the game's early stages and almost took the lead on 10 minutes. Lolley's corner wasn't dealt with by Stoke, the ball fell for Ameobi at close range but Davies was there to make a strong save and collect in the rebound from Yates.

Chances were coming at both ends in an entertaining start to the contest. Jordan Smith was called into action to make a good stop from a Sam Vokes strike before Lewis Grabban was denied by a superb block on the line from Jordan Thompson from the forward's effort from 12 yards out.

It was Stoke who were first to draw blood on 19 minutes through goalscoring defender Batth. A corner was taken short and swung into the penalty area from the right by Thompson and Batth climbed highest to head the ball beyond Smith into the back of the Forest net.

Forest had a golden chance to level the scores on 35 minutes but it passed them by. One long ball over the top sent Lolley clean through on goal but rather than shoot himself, he opted to try and square the ball to Grabban and Bruno Martins Indi was able to get back and clear the danger.

A far cry from their performance at Barnsley on Sunday, Forest were the better side in the first half at The City Ground. Silva, who had come on as a 24th-minute substitute for the injured Samba Sow, let fly from long range and his well-struck effort only cleared the target by a matter of inches.

There were no changes at the break and the away side were the first to show in the opening minutes of the second half as Lee Gregory sent a piledriver towards goal from 25 yards but with Smith at full-stretch, the ball narrowly cleared the crossbar and flew into the Bridgford Stand.

Lamouchi's men had threatened for most of the evening and finally they drew level just after the hour mark. Lolley whipped a right-wing corner into the Stoke six-yard box where Figueiredo had been left all alone to power a header into the corner of Davies' net to restore parity for The Reds.

A moment of misfortune for Forest saw them fall behind once again with 17 minutes to play. Substitute Josh Tymon's low drive from the left-hand side of the penalty area was touched in on the line by McClean and the goal was given despite Forest's strong pleas for the offside flag.

Forest's season was collapsing around them and Stoke extended their lead on 78 minutes. In almost a carbon copy of the visitors' second goal, Tymon drove a ball across the penalty area and this time Gregory was there to tap the ball home into an unguarded net.

The killer blow was delivered in the final minute of stoppage time. As Forest tried to get the goal they desperately needed, Stoke broke down the centre of the pitch and raced towards goal. The ball was delivered into the box and Da Costa could only turn it into his own net.

Forest: Smith; Cash, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro (Mighten 90'); Watson (c); Ameobi, Sow (Silva 24'), Yates (Da Costa 80'), Lolley, Grabban

Subs: Shelvey, Bostock, Jenkinson, Dawson, Walker, Johnson

Goal: Figueiredo 61'

Stoke: Davies; Martins Indi, Chester, Batth, Thompson (Sorensen 62'); Oakley-Boothe (Tymon 71'), Cousins, Smith, McClean; Vokes (Campbell 71'), Gregory (Ince 82')

Subs: Butland, Lindsay, Collins, Porter

Goals: Batth 19', McClean 73', Gregory 78', Da Costa (own goal) 90'

Booking: Cousins 90'

Referee: Gavin Ward