Nottingham Forest might have "gatecrashed" the Premier League but Arsher Ali believes they can still avoid an early exit from the party.
The actor and Forest fan was the guest on this week's Garibladi Red podcast and he says that while the team's move back into the big time after 23 years has been far from smooth, he thinks they can still stay up as Forest sit two points outside the relegation zone.
"I've been weirdly calm about it all," he said. "You wait so long to get somewhere and then when you finally do, you experience this nirvana. By rights, we gatecrashed the Premier League party. In my days in Notts, you would gatecrash parties and have as much fun and as much food and drink as you could before you got turfed out.
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"When you got turfed out you accepted it. It feels a bit like that with the remodelling we had to do. It was so public with all the people who came through the door and how convenient it was for writers to focus on us and not the x amount of millions other teams were spending.
"Everything was done quite publicly. I'm not Evangelos Marinakis. I'm not putting my money in like that. If we go down would we keep Steve Cooper? I'm not sure.
"I still feel strangely calm. I still feel like we'll do it. We've done well coming off international breaks before and I hope we can again."
When asked what gave him reason to believe Forest would still stay up, the star of Four Lions and Line of Duty said home supporters at the City Ground would be the difference with only one defeat coming in the last 10 games.
"It's the fans. I've really enjoyed watching and hearing the City Ground together. All I've ever experienced is the opposite. Watching Championship and League One games, we were never united," he said.
"Obviously there was Mull of Kintyre and you would get the odd chant but it would die in the Trent End. Now everyone is together.
"When the scarves come out and everyone sings Forest are magic and it goes on and on, that's what gives me hope. That and Steve Cooper."
You can listen to the full episode here or watch it here
Will Forest stay up? Have your say in the comments section below
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