Cardiff vs Nottingham Forest preview: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Football
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm on Tuesday; kick-off is at 7.45pm
Monday 24 February 2020 20:46, UK
Cardiff face Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports Football.
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Team news
Cardiff will be without Lee Tomlin when they host fifth-placed Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. The midfielder missed the Bluebirds' loss to Stoke at the weekend due to a knee injury sustained in training and is now set to spend six to eight weeks on the sidelines.
Joe Ralls could regain his place having watched the Stoke fixture from the bench after missing four games with a glute issue. Defender Matthew Connolly (ankle), winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (hamstring) and forward Isaac Vassell (thigh) are all long-term absentees and will play no part.
Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi will pick from an almost full-strength squad ahead of the visit to Wales. Samba Sow (knee) has returned to the injury list after recovering from a previous issue to partake in his club's 2-2 draw with West Brom on Saturday and is unlikely to feature.
Nuno da Costa is doubtful after leaving the pitch injured during an under-23s fixture. Tendayi Darikwa has missed the majority of the season with an ACL rupture and is not expected to return during this campaign.
Recent form
Cardiff come into this game off the back of a mixed couple of weeks. They beat Huddersfield 3-0 on February 12, followed that up with a 2-2 draw at home to Wigan and then fell to a 2-0 defeat against Stoke at the weekend.
Forest have also struggled since their 2-0 win over Leeds on February 8. Following a 1-0 defeat to Charlton three days later, they drew 2-2 with leaders West Brom and were then held to a stalemate by QPR.
What the managers said...
Cardiff's Neil Harris: "We have to make sure that Saturday was a one-off. When you play again so soon, especially against a team just above you in the division, it's important to put things right. It will be a great game against Forest.
"If we're serious about the play-offs we have to beat the teams around us. With two huge games in four days next week, it's a huge chance for us. I'm looking forward to Tuesday night, and seeing how my team responds."
Nottingham Forest's Sabri Lamouchi: "This is not the time to give up. We must keep going and keep performing as well as we did on Saturday because then the results will come. We played for the victory but just came up a little bit short.
"Now we must have a good couple of days of rest before we have another tough game against Cardiff. The players are giving me everything at the moment but we just have to make sure we are that bit more efficient in the final third and take our chances when they come."
Talking point: Are Cardiff still in the play-off race?
The twists and turns produced by the Championship year in, year out means that even at this late stage of the season, the promotion picture is, largely, unclear. West Brom and Leeds appear to be over their mid-season slumps and are starting to pull away, but is there a place for Neil Harris' men in the end of season lottery?
They sit 10th ahead of Tuesday's clash, six points behind Brentford, Forest and Preston, who currently occupy three of the four spots. They face a tough run, with five of the top seven still to play, but if they can put a decent run together in the next few weeks, they could well sneak in.
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Cardiff City have won nine of their last 10 league matches against Nottingham Forest, drawing the other in December 2015.
Nottingham Forest have won one of their last 11 away league visits to Cardiff (W1 D3 L7), a 2-0 victory back in November 2010.
Despite drawing five of their last six home matches (W1), Cardiff have lost fewer home games than any other Championship side on home soil this season (W8 D7 L1), a 0-1 defeat by Bristol City back in November.
In the 13 Championship games this season when Nottingham Forest have had the larger share of possession, they have managed just one victory (7.7% - D5 L7), compared to winning 14 of the other 21 matches in which the Reds have surrendered the higher share to their opponents (66.7% - D6 L1).
Nottingham Forest have lost on seven on their last 10 trips to Welsh sides in all competitions (W1 D2), though following their victory at Swansea back in September, the Reds are looking to win back-to-back such games for the first time since November 2010 (1-0 v Swansea, 2-0 v Cardiff).
Prutton's prediction
The Bluebirds' hopes of a late dash for the play-offs took something of a blow when they were beaten by Stoke on Saturday, but it was a rare dip for a side who've greatly improved since Neil Harris took over last year.
They come up against a Forest side who are itching for three points. They've not won since beating Leeds a few weeks ago, but during that time they've held leaders West Brom and I feel they could get back on track here.
David Prutton predicts: 1-2 (10/1 with Sky Bet)
