Nottingham Forest legend Garry Birtles is hoping his old club can have a potential decider of their own this season - just as Manchester City and Liverpool will this weekend.
The Premier League giants meet at the Etihad on Sunday in a fixture which could decide who wins the tile. Birtles hopes Forest will go to Bournemouth in the penultimate game of the season for a rearranged match which could dictate who finishes second in the Championship.
The Reds are eight points behind Bournemouth with eight to play after Steve Cooper's men won four games in a row ahead of facing Birmingham City tomorrow. Bournemouth still look strong favourites to go up automatically but they face a far more testing run-in on paper, starting with a trip to Sheffield United.
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With that in mind, Birtles says Forest should first look to ensure they make the play-offs, but be ready to pounce should Bournemouth see results collapse.
"It's going to be difficult because it's out of their hands. When it's out of your hands that's all you can do (win)," he said on the latest Garibaldi Red podcast. "You just hope Bournemouth go on a bad run, but they have quality players and people who score goals. When you have that you've always got a chance of winning football matches.
"Teams will get nervous. Nerves always come into play. They'll see us creeping into the picture and teams around will be playing each other. You've got to be hopeful. Get in the play-offs - establish yourself in those positions and who knows what can happen if you do that.
"You hope others lose games and it puts the pressure on them. It's like the Liverpool Man City scenario at the weekend. That game is going to be massive and it could come down to that. We've seen stranger things happen in football.
"You've got to hope it happens but you've got to expect it not to happen and get on with your game - ignore every other team and keep doing what you're doing. Keep winning.
"Steve Cooper, I can't speak highly enough of him. He's given the city of Nottingham a big smile. There's a smile on people's faces and they're proud to be from Nottingham. I can't wipe the smile off my face at the moment. That's down to Steve and his backroom staff."
You can listen to the full episode here or watch it here.
