{"id":558900,"date":"2020-07-22T00:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T04:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=558900"},"modified":"2020-08-21T12:09:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-21T16:09:08","slug":"nottingham-forest-host-stoke-city-with-the-play-offs-still-not-secured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/07\/22\/nottingham-forest-host-stoke-city-with-the-play-offs-still-not-secured\/","title":{"rendered":"Nottingham Forest Host Stoke City With the Play-Offs Still Not Secured"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nottingham Forest welcome Stoke City<\/a> to the City Ground in the final game of the Championship<\/a> season.<\/p>\n

Nottingham Forest vs Stoke City<\/h2>\n

What is at Stake?<\/h3>\n

The home side go into the last match of the season still needing a point to secure their place in the Play-Offs.<\/p>\n

They almost grabbed that point though when they faced Barnsley at the weekend, but a 93rd minute from Patrick Schmidt<\/a> meant Forest left Oakwell with nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more than disappointing,” Reds boss Sabri Lamouchi said after the game<\/a>. “Not only for the goal in extra time, (but) for the performance, (and) the spirit.<\/p>\n

“The spirit in the dressing room was absolutely terrible, but my job is to talk with them honestly. The manager needs to take the responsibility and this is my responsibility.”<\/p>\n

They face a Stoke City side who on Saturday dealt a massive blow to Brentford’s automatic promotion hopes by beating them 1-0 at the Bet365 Stadium.<\/p>\n

That victory guaranteed the Potters’ Championship status. It also means they travel across the A50 with nothing to play for.<\/p>\n

It’s still very much in Nottingham Forest’s hands, but with top-six contenders Swansea City<\/a> at Reading, and Cardiff City<\/a> facing a Hull City side condemned to League One football, they cannot afford any slip-ups.<\/p>\n

Match Facts<\/h2>\n

Lewis Grabban<\/a> is the third top scorer in the Championship with 20 goals. He is also the first Forest striker to reach that target since David Johnson in the 2002\/03 season – ironically David’s son Brennan<\/a> plays with Grabban at Forest.<\/p>\n

Stoke have lost just one of their last five matches – that was a 5-0 defeat at divisional Champions Leeds United. Forest meanwhile, have not won in their last five games. They have also conceded four times in 90th minute stoppage time since the restart.<\/p>\n

But the Reds did come out on top in their previous encounter back in September, goals from Joe Lolley,<\/a> Sammy Ameobi,<\/a> and Grabban helped the Reds to a 3-2 win in the Potteries.<\/p>\n

Forest look to be without Samba Sow<\/a> and Alfa Semedo<\/a> for this one, but will be hoping keeper Brice Samba<\/a>, Matty Cash<\/a> and Lolley, will be available for this crunch game at the City Ground.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>