2016 begins for Nottingham Forest with a trip to London to face a Charlton Athletic side who are currently one place off the foot of the Championship table.
Poor form on the pitch, with a 2-0 defeat at home to Wolves on Monday the latest setback, tells only half of the story for the Addicks with supporters calling for protests against the running of the club to take place after the Forest game.
The Reds, in contrast, are slowly heading the right way in the table and showed their defensive and organisational qualities once again in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Cardiff City.
Dougie Freedman was accused by Cardiff boss Russell Slade of ‘parking the bus’ in South Wales but the Scot felt that his side could have won the game in the final 15 minutes and will have no hesitation in setting them up the same way at the Valley.
Can they then take advantage of a home side short of confidence and playing before a crowd who may not be slow to voice their frustrations?
Karel Faeye remains in caretaker charge of the Addicks and he admitted to the official CAFC website after the Wolves game that his team need to be ‘sharper and better’ in all areas of the pitch.
“Most of all we need a win. Everybody wants results not to be how they are now. The way to do that is to not focus on the negative things.”