After the postponement of their clash with Bournemouth at the weekend, Nottingham Forest will return to action on Tuesday, as they travel to Deepdale to take on Preston North End.
The Reds currently find themselves ninth in the Championship table, just three points outside the playoffs, while their hosts dropped to 12th spot after a defeat to Reading on Saturday.
Match preview
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Following the appointment of Ryan Lowe in December, Preston North End have taken impressive strides in the Championship, earning 20 points from their first 12 league games under the new boss.
In that time, the Lilywhites have picked up five victories while only suffering two defeats, although one of those losses did come at the weekend, as they hosted Reading after a six-game unbeaten run produced 12 points.
The Lancashire outfit had a nightmare start, as a Lucas Joao double gave the visitors an early lead, and, after John Swift made it 3-0, second-half goals from Daniel Johnson and Cameron Archer were not enough as they eventually succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.
With that causing a drop to 12th spot, Lowe's men will now look to put a disappointing day behind them as they go in search of an immediate return to winning ways on home turf on Tuesday, although their visitors arrive in fine form of their own.
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Having been scheduled to take on Bournemouth away from home on Friday night, Nottingham Forest instead spent the weekend out of action as the game was called off due to the effects of Storm Eunice, denying them the opportunity to stretch an impressive run of results.
Steve Cooper's side have now won six of their last eight games in all competitions, including eye-catching FA Cup wins over Arsenal and defending champions Leicester City alongside league victories over Millwall, Derby County and Barnsley.
The Reds followed up their 4-1 thrashing of Leicester with another three-point haul in England's second tier, as James Garner and Brennan Johnson got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory away at third-placed Blackburn Rovers.
They then met Stoke City at home most recently, and, in a dramatic game in which defender Joe Worrall had to deputise in goal after Brice Samba's red card, Ryan Yates eventually snatched an equalising goal in the 92nd-minute to see them earn a point from a 2-2 draw.
While their postponement on Friday has seen the City Ground side briefly fall behind in the race for playoff spots, they do remain just three points behind sixth-placed Sheffield United, and their position could be hugely improved with an away victory on Tuesday.
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Team News
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Preston North End remain without Greg Cunningham, Josh Murphy and Tom Barkhuizen due to injuries, while Lowe may look to shuffle his side after a defeat at the weekend.
Aston Villa youngster Cameron Archer has impressed since his loan arrival in January, netting four goals in his first seven appearances, and the 20-year-old should certainly keep his place alongside Emil Riis Jakobsen.
Ryan Ledson will be vying for a start in midfield, while Liam Lindsay will hope to disrupt the established back three of Andrew Hughes, Patrick Bauer and Sepp van den Berg.
Nottingham Forest will be without Brice Samba through suspension, after the goalkeeper's red card against Stoke, although Joe Worrall will be free to command the back line with Ethan Horvath set to fill in between the sticks.
The captain should again line up in a back three with Steve Cook and Scott McKenna, while Ryan Yates will hope to earn a midfield spot after his goal last time out, although that would require Cooper to drop Jack Colback or Manchester United loanee James Garner.
Young attacker Brennan Johnson netted his ninth league goal of the season last time out, and he will again be a key man going forward.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Van Den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Potts, Ledson, Browne, Sinclair; Johnson; Jakobsen, Archer
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Cook, Worrall, McKenna; Spence, Yates, Garner, Lowe; Zinckernagel; Johnson, Davies
We say: Preston North End 1-1 Nottingham Forest
With two sides generally showing upward curves in recent months, this promises to be an intriguing Championship encounter, and we cannot quite pick a winner at Deepdale.
Both will be vying for a victory to boost their chances of earning a top-six spot but could ultimately cancel one another out given their similarities in quality and form.
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Preston North End win with a probability of 38.74%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 33.54% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Preston North End win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.48%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.14%) and 2-0 (7.15%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 0-1 (10.49%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.07%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
