Nottingham Forest face a four-game shootout to preserve their Premier League status.
The Reds are in the bottom three on goal difference and have a huge clash against rock-bottom Southampton to come on Monday night. Steve Cooper’s side know it is a must-win game at the City Ground.
However, they will take encouragement from recent performances, even if results haven’t always gone the right way. And they will be aware it remains incredibly tight in the battle for survival.
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Forest, in 18th, are level on points with Leicester City and Leeds United, while Everton are one point below. Even West Ham United, with a four-point cushion, are not completely out of the woods. Ahead of the run-in, we take a look at what the Reds’ rivals are saying about the relegation scrap.
West Ham United - 15th, 34 points
Stand-in captain Aaron Cresswell after Wednesday night’s defeat to Manchester City: “It’s a four-game season now and we’re four points clear of the bottom three, so three or four points or whatever it might take to keep us up, we just want to get it sooner rather than later.
We’ve also got a European semi-final which are going to be two massive games, but obviously every game between now and the end of the season is going to be vital.
“Once the lads are back, I’m sure they’ll be back by Sunday and be raring to go, so as I say every game from now is massive. It’s Man United in the late game on a Sunday night and the crowd will be up for it and we want to get the three points.”
Leicester City - 16th, 30 points
Manager Dean Smith after Monday’s 2-2 draw with Everton: “I never thought if we won this game it would take us clear and if we’d lost, there would still have been points to play for. I was just disappointed because I felt we were second best for the first half.
“It was probably the worst we’ve played in the four games I’ve had. That includes the Man City game. There were so many unforced errors. I can understand it a little bit, there’s a lot at stake.
“We’ve played Leeds and played Everton and got two points. If we’d won one and lost one, would that have put us in a better situation? We don’t know. Because one of our rivals would have got three points as well.
“The league is really tight. We’re pleased to be out of it. We know we will play better. There’s more to come from us.”
Leeds United - 17th, 30 points
Sam Allardyce in his first press conference after being appointed to replace Javi Gracia: "It's probably the biggest challenge because of the shortness of games that are left. They need to pick up points and you look at the difficulty of the fixtures. We start with an easy one on Saturday. You can't get any easier than Manchester City away.
"It's a big challenge that the players have to take on, I have to take on, and Karl Robinson has joined me, and today Robbie Keane has joined us. I don't know the rest of the staff, but I've got these lads that I've known for a long time, who I trust, and hopefully the rest of the staff take the responsibility on board to produce a better performance on and off the field.
"We'll try and go to Manchester City and do our best to get a result. I can only wait and see what the reaction is when we kick-off on Saturday afternoon.
"I don't think there is too much of a problem with Leeds in possession. But there is a massive problem when they haven't got it because of the amount of goals they've conceded. If we are to stay in the Premier League, they need to stop conceding goals like they've been conceding.
"It goes along with the territory that you get a new manager and they seem to lift the performance because it's a new manager, not that the manager has done anything really brilliant. If a manager tells you he has, then he's lying to you. They come in thinking they need to impress my manager to keep playing. And of course Manchester City will make them give that bit more because they don't want to embarrass themselves."
Everton - 19th, 29 points
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after the draw with the Foxes: "I thought we were brilliant but it's just the fine details at the end, small details win games, but we didn't get beat and we have momentum now. It's very tight down there and it's about momentum.
“We need to roll our sleeves up and just keep working hard, keep that fighting spirit together, which I think we showed out there tonight. We have Brighton away next Monday so it will be rest, recover and get ready for that."
Southampton - 20th, 24 points
Manager Ruben Selles on the Saints’ survival chances after losing to Newcastle United: "Well, I'm very positive. So where we are is still alive.
“I'm going to go and try to win the next four games, as I have been trying to do with every single game since I took the team. My chances are still there and I'm going to grab every single percentage of that. I know it's low, but I'm gonna fight until the very end of the season."
How many more points do Forest need to survive? Have your say in the comments below
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