Nottingham Forest's Championship play-off aspirations received a big boost on Saturday as the Reds beat Reading 4-0 at the City Ground.
The Reds have enjoyed an incredible turn-around in form ever since Steve Cooper took over from Chris Hughton in September 2021. Cooper has transformed the side form one involved in an early relegation scrap to being on the verge of a fight for promotion.
Forest are unbeaten in their last six Championship matches and have lost just once in their previous ten league matches; in addition to their Championship success, Cooper's side have beaten Arsenal, Leicester City and Huddersfield Town to set-up an FA Cup quarter-final with Liverpool at the City Ground.
The top two seems to be a step too far for Cooper's men with Fulham having played one game more than Forest and on 77 points, whilst second-placed Bournemouth are ten points ahead of Forest with 65 points from 34 games.
Beyond that, however, sit Huddersfield (63 points, 37 games) in third and then QPR (59 points, 36 games), Blackburn Rovers (58 points, 37 games) and Sheffield United (57 points, 36 games).
Just two points separate Cooper's high-flying Reds from the Championship top six and have at least one game in hand over some of their nearest rivals thanks to their FA Cup run. It remains an intensely concentrated top half of the league standings, however, with just nine points separating fourth-placed QPR and 14th-placed West Brom.
With that in mind, we've taken a look at the fixtures of several teams currently in contention for the Championship play-off spots.
Forest (9th - 35 played, 55 points)
Next six fixtures: QPR (h), Blackpool (a), Coventry City (h), Birmingham City (h), Luton Town (a), West Brom (h).
Forest have put themselves in a good position to fight for a play-off spot but face a difficult few weeks with opponents including several of their nearest competitors.
The visits of QPR (4th) and Coventry (10th) to the City Ground will be of some boost to the Reds given they have lost at home just twice since Cooper took over in late September 2021.
A brief rest-bite can be taken by the visit of Birmingham City (19th) to Trentside on April 9 whilst the Reds face another play-off rival in the form of Luton Town (7th) on April 15 before West Brom (14th) head across the Midlands.
Reds fans would count on at least a point being taken against Blackpool and Luton, whilst their home form should help them to three points against Coventry, Birmingham City and West Brom. A point at home to QPR would be seen as a good result.
Over the last five seasons, an average 75.2 points have been needed to finish in the play-off spots. This means the Reds would need to take an average of 1.8 points per game; currently, Cooper's side have been taking an average of 2.1 points per game since the start of 2022.
Just 70 points were needed to reach the play-off spots in 2019/20 - the year Forest infamously suffered a final day collapse to miss out - whilst last season saw 77 points needed to finish in the top six.
Huddersfield Town (3rd - 37 played, 63 points)
Next six fixtures: Millwall (a), Bournemouth (h), Hull City (a), Luton Town (h), QPR (h), Middlesbrough (a).
QPR (4th - 36 played, 59 points)
Next six fixtures: Nottingham Forest (a), Peterborough United (h), Fulham (h), Sheffield United (a), Preston (a), Huddersfield Town (a).
Blackburn Rovers (5th - 37 played, 58 points)
Next six fixtures: Derby County (h), Reading (a), Coventry City (a), Blackpool (h), Peterborough United (a), Stoke City (h).
Sheffield United (6th - 36 played, 57 points)
Next six fixtures: Blackpool (a), Barnsley (h), Stoke City (a), QPR (h), Bournemouth (h), Reading (h).
Luton Town (7th - 36 played, 57 points)
Next six fixtures: Preston (h), Hull City (a), Millwall (h), Peterborough (a), Huddersfield (h), Nottingham Forest (h).
Middlesbrough (8th - 36 played, 56 points)
Next six fixtures: Birmingham City (a), Peterborough United (a), Fulham (h), Hull City (h), Bournemouth (a), Huddersfield (h).
Coventry City (10th - 36 played, 54 points)
Next six fixtures: Hull City (h), Derby (a), Blackburn (h), Nottingham Forest (a), Fulham (a), Birmingham City (a).
Millwall (11th - 36 played, 54 points)
Next six fixtures: Huddersfield (h), Stoke City (a), Luton (a), Swansea (h), Barnsley (h), Preston (a).
