Fulham v Nottingham Forest

Fulham hosts Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. Forest has had a very disappointing season. They started off okay, then had a run of 11 games with only one win in all of September and October (including a 1-1 draw with Fulham). They then ended the year horribly going 6 matches with only 1 point. They had a modest run of good form in January against lower table teams, but were hammered 5-1 by Norwich on Saturday which added to their second worst in the league goals-against total. Forest may also be forced to play their third-string keeper or put in an emergency loan if Stojkovic (the keeper we faced last time) has not recovered from an injury. This is a match we should and must win. Hopefully we put in a more dominating performance than what we saw at Wigan but anything that leads to three points will be okay with me.

Oh, and we get to welcome back Ross McCormack.

 

Lichaj will be serving a suspension.

 

Really liked hearing Joka's post match interview; he was grateful for the points, but disappointed in the performance, which I'm sure he passed along in the locker room. Put in a good shift and it'll be another 3 points, but can't take anything for granted.

 

It'll be interesting to see who starts at center forward for us, GJ was very critical of Martin's effort Saturday. Might we see Cyriac instead?

 

One of two things usually happens in sports after a game like Saturday:
1) The team comes out flat as a flitter and struggles to find their form, or:
2) They ride the crest of the emotional wave and find themselves for a long unbeaten run.

 

Interesting. It appears Ream was in the lineup released on twitter, but now the lineup on the website has Madl in with Sigurdsson. Knock? Or something else. ??????

 

Ugh...2 minutes in and the Curse of the ex-Fulham player coming back to haunt strikes, and it wasn't Ross. Kasami puts Forest up early.

Update: Cairney & Piazon strike back to lead 2-1 at half.

Final: Another squeaky bum finish and identical 3-2 scoreline..to THE GOOD GUYS!!!

 

Score an own goal, win the game. Receive an own goal, win the game. The pejorative phrase here is WIN THE GAME. We won BOTH GAMES. By hook or by crook, deserved or not, we WON BOTH GAMES. This is what happens when you've just got the gumption to go out and COMPETE. I LOVE IT!

 

Just to underscore how crowded things are in this section of the table, and how important every win is, Derby lost today to Cardiff and fell from 8th to 11th with Fulham, Barnsley, and Preston moving ahead.

 

What has happened to the defense? We're letting in multiple goals against lower half sides. It seems that Ream has become a mainstay but he's had a rotating set of partners lately.

 

It seems that the injured Kalas is the key to our defense. With him in the limeup, I'm sure our recorde is much better than when he's out. Don't know what his knock is this time, but the sooner he's back, the happier I, and most of the supporters I'd say, will be. He seems to be the key, for whatever reason, to the defense.