The next few weeks have the potential to be defining ones for Nottingham Forest in their bid to finish in the Championship’s top six.
The Reds have five league games and an FA Cup tie to play before the "milestone" of the next international break in mid-March.
Come that point, the table could look very different as Steve Cooper’s side aim to put a positive run of results together - starting against Bristol City this weekend.
They are currently in 10th spot, five points below the play-off places, with the Welshman having overseen a remarkable turnaround in fortunes from a miserable start to the campaign which had Forest bottom of the standings when he arrived.
“I know I always say about the focus being on the next game, but we know international breaks are usually a little milestone, where you want to be somewhere,” Cooper said.
“It’s the real run-in isn’t it, after the international break.
“The players have worked really, really hard and played really well to get us into what is a positive position. The next challenge now is to keep going and to kick on again.
“If you’re talking about play-off places, we’re still catching up - because we had a lot of catching up to do.
“I won’t lose sight of how well the players have done up until now. But at the same time, we’re motivated to, at minimum, keep going, if not improve. And that’s only down to us.
“Of course I’m excited about it. I’m the manager of Nottingham Forest, we’ve got a home game on Saturday with the best part of 30,000 people there, the players have trained really well. Brilliant.”
Successive draws, coupled with results elsewhere, have left the Reds with a gap to close on their promotion rivals.
Cooper is expecting plenty of twists and turns in the race for the top-flight, though, and knows how quickly the situation can change.
After hosting the Robins, his team face Sheffield United, Reading, QPR and Fulham, and take on Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup, before the fortnight’s hiatus.
“You can play a three-game week and before you know it, good, bad or indifferent can happen as well,” the head coach said.
“There’s no doubt that everybody wants to be winning games. We’re no different to that.
“I’m a believer in doing what you can do, getting your own house in order first, pick up points and then the rest of it will take care of itself.
“Even a few months ago, when we were in a league position that nobody liked, it was only us who could change that.
“Nothing has changed. You just have to look after yourself and see where it takes you.”
