Forest on fire

Billy Davies won't talk up their chances, but Peter Beagrie says Nottingham Forest are looking good.

Beags looks at the latest from the Football League

Billy Davies' Nottingham Forest side are flying right now. After a lukewarm start to the season, the team steadily improved, slowly began to simmer and are now in red-hot form ahead of Sunday's top-two clash against QPR, live on Sky Sports. Billy will be hoping they can maintain their promotion push and not dip like they did last season, seeming to run out of steam in their pursuit of Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion in the automatic spots. Forest were eighth at the end of December, but a joyous January and a fabulous February have seen them go on a nine-game unbeaten run, taking 25 out of a possible 27 points and securing an impressive five clean sheets as they soared up to second. Unbeaten at home this season (in fact it's 34 games since they last tasted defeat at the City Ground), they have also won four of the last five away games and look to be a genuine threat to the league leaders. Davies' team are seven points adrift of the R's, but have two games in hand, so will be looking to make a statement of intent and close the gap in a game which is a real acid test for Billy's boys. Davies is worried about the strength in depth in his squad and although in the last game, a 1-0 home victory over Watford, his bench included such attacking options as Lewis McGugan, Garath McCleary, David McGoldrick, Nathan Tyson and Dele Adebola, he still continues to play down his side's automatic chances. Yet he waxes lyrical about the strength and quality of the squads of his nearest rivals, QPR included. I can understand Billy's reluctance to overplay his hand after their experiences of last season, which saw them in a near identical position at this stage. After 29 games they had 55 points and they currently have 52 from their first 28. You can understand why he is refusing to get carried away. What I would say is that his team are strong and resolute at the back with Lee Camp, Wes Morgan and Luke Chambers all outstanding and they have also seen an improvement on the goalscoring front of late. Forest would undoubtedly have been toe-to-toe with QPR if they hadn't had such a slow start to the season.

Disastrous

At the other end of the table it was a disastrous weekend for the bottom three. Eight of the bottom nine played each other last weekend and Preston, Scunthorpe and Sheffield United were on the end of some heavy defeats, inflicting some severe damage to their goal difference in the close race at the bottom. Micky Adams has not won a game yet with Sheffield United and was on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline at Ipswich. They had both Rob Kozluk and Lee Williamson sent off in the closing stages, which is unacceptable from two experienced players, as it will have a bearing on future games. Meanwhile Preston leaked four against a Bristol City side who hadn't scored in the previous five. That doesn't augur well for the bottom club It was a case of the haves and the have-nots as Scunthorpe lost 5-1 to Hull with new signings Matt Fryatt and Aaron McLean sharing the goals between them. I said a few weeks ago that Forest, Hull and Leicester might be the teams to come out of the pack - and the latter two are benefitting from an injection of new players. Another new signing, James Vaughan, scored the solitary goal as Palace enjoyed a fantastic win, bringing an end to Middlesbrough's six-match unbeaten run. A seventh clean sheet in a row at Selhurst Park suggests the team have a good chance of escaping the drop. Meanwhile, Portsmouth snatched a last-minute draw with Derby, but it goes from bad to worse for the Pompey squad. John Utaka has left for Montpellier, while Michael Brown and Richard Hughes can't play because of contract disputes. Portsmouth and Derby are both in the bottom six of the form table, but that draw has given both some breathing space ahead of the bottom three.

Peter's Picks of the Week

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Andy King (Leicester City)
It was a battle of the Andys this week as both Andy King and Andy Keogh caught my eye. Keogh is on loan at Bristol City and had a hand in every goal in the 4-0 demolition of Preston. However, the vote goes to King, whose Leicester side now have four wins in five and are four points off the play-offs. King helped himself to two goals against Barnsley; an exquisite chip and a fantastic finish after a trademark driving run from midfield. That was the perfect birthday present for his manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson.
See Leicester highlights here CHAMPIONSHIP GOAL OF THE WEEK - Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town)
This was another hard call. Kyle Naughton scored a cracking right-footed blockbuster from fully 30 yards for Leicester against Barnsley, but I've chosen Connor Wickham's incredible solo effort for Ipswich against Sheffield United. After a great first touch inside his own half, he burst past several defenders and kept his cool before slotting home. That helped Paul Jewell to achieve three wins on the spin with Ipswich, something Roy Keane was unable to do all season.
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LEAGUE ONE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Myles Weston (Brentford)
Myles Weston scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Plymouth, sealing Brentford's first win in eight. He then turned in another man-of-the-match performance in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Southern Section Final against Exeter with two assists to set up Sam Saunders and Gary Alexander to guarantee the Bees a Wembley appearance.
See Brentford highlights here LEAGUE ONE GOAL OF THE WEEK - Alan Gow (Notts County)
Unfortunately the match between Tranmere and Notts County was abandoned and this goal will never be recorded officially, so we'll make sure it is marked in our Goal of the Week section. It was an incredible strike from 30 yards in the torrential rain. There wasn't a lot of football played in the game, but Gow got the ball out of his feet and smashed it in the top corner.

LEAGUE TWO PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Cody McDonald (Gillingham)
The Norwich loanee, a makeweight in the deal that saw Simeon Jackson go to Carrow Road, continues his impressive form, which has seen him notch 17 goals this season. McDonald was at his clinical best with a brace in an excellent 3-1 home win against Rotherham and Gillingham are now unbeaten in four.
See Gillingham highlights here LEAGUE TWO GOAL OF THE WEEK - Frankie Artus (Cheltenham)
Frankie Artus's wonderful goal in the 1-1 draw against Morecambe was a 35-yard free-kick which went in to the top right corner, giving Barry Roach absolutely no chance.
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