It’s a big week for Nottingham Forest as they could seal their fate for next season as they aim to climb into the automatic promotion places.
Forest know that two wins in their last two games will see them play Premier League football next season. The first of those games come on Tuesday when they travel to the south coast to take on AFC Bournemouth.
The Cherries are the team currently occupying the second automatic promotion place, they sit three points ahead of Forest. However, the Reds’ superior goal difference could give them a key advantage at the end of the campaign.
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It means that all eyes are on the Vitality Stadium for the clash on Tuesday night. A win would see Forest climb into second place ahead of the final weekend of the season, where Steve Cooper ’s side take on Hull City while Bournemouth host Millwall.
The importance of the game has been highlighted by the referee appointment. Premier League referee Stuart Attwell will be the man in the middle, with Constantine Hatzidakis and Dan Cook as the assistants and Josh Smith as fourth official.
It will be the first Championship game that Attwell has officiated this season, with the referee taking charge of games in the Premier League, Europa Conference League and the FA Cup.
During his 18 Premier League games this season, he has shown a total of 86 yellow cards and just one red. The bad news for Forest is that in that in the six Reds’ games he has taken charge of, they are yet to record a win.
The last time Forest had Attwell as the referee was the 2-1 FA Cup loss against Hull City back in 2018. He also took charge of the 1-1 draw with Derby County in the East Midlands derby in 2008.
