Preview: Nottingham Forest vs. Peterborough United - prediction, team news, lineups

Nottingham Forest play host to Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon looking to end a run of five draws from six matches in the Championship.

At a time when Forest are in 16th position, Peterborough travel to the City Ground sitting four points adrift of safety.

Match preview

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Regardless of their side having put together a six-match unbeaten streak of late, Forest supporters are frustrated with five of those games ending in low-scoring draws.

While only positives should be taken from a goalless stalemate at West Bromwich Albion last time out, the result was a continuation of consistently poor efforts in the final third.

Although Steve Cooper will point to conceding just three times in six games as a reason to be optimistic, they have reached a stage where he desperately requires a victory to turn the tide in his team's favour.

As many as 266 minutes have passed by since Philip Zinckernagel's early effort at Reading, leaving Cooper with little choice put to throw caution to the wind at the weekend.

Despite Forest possessing the third-worst home record in the division, eight points and just one defeat have been posted from their last six matches at the City Ground.

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Peterborough have recently handed Darren Ferguson a long-term contract, an indication that they plan to stick with the current boss regardless of their fate this season.

However, Posh find themselves on a six-match winless streak and having not found the back of the net for 366 minutes in the second tier.

Even a point at home to relegation rivals Barnsley last weekend could not be perceived to be a positive, and the pressure is building as they bid to stay in contention with the clubs above them.

Since a potentially-pivotal 2-1 win away at Hull City on October 20, Peterborough have lost three successive away games, failing to score and conceding nine goals at the other end.

In total, they have now shipped 28 strikes in 10 matches on their travels, eight more than any other team in the division.

Team News

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Jack Colback is available for Forest after serving a one-match ban, and he could return at left wing-back or in central midfield.

However, Gaetan Bong and James Garner could retain their places, with any changes to the team coming further forward.

Alex Mighten and Joe Lolley are pushing to replace Brennan Johnson and Zinckernagel in the final third.

Peterborough will be forced into at least one alteration with Dan Butler serving a one-game suspension for five yellow cards.

Mark Beevers should come back into the team on the left-hand side of a back three, while Sammie Szmodics could get the nod over Kai Corbett.

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Worrall, Figueiredo, McKenna; Spence, Yates, Garner, Bong; Mighten, Grabban, Zinckernagel

Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Knight, Edwards, Beevers; Thompson, Coventry, Taylor, Burrows; Dembele, Szmodics; Clarke-Harris

We say: Nottingham Forest 3-1 Peterborough United

Cooper and his Forest players know that another draw will not be warmly received at the weekend. With that in mind, we expect a positive performance from the home team, one which should earn them a relatively comfortable three points.

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