Fresh from booking their place in the EFL Cup semi-finals, Nottingham Forest return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon, as fellow 17-pointers Leicester City visit the City Ground.
The Tricky Trees defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers on penalties in midweek, while Brendan Rodgers's team were knocked out at the same stage to Newcastle United.
Match preview
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A 4-1 FA Cup humiliation at the hands of Blackpool was far from ideal preparation for an EFL Cup quarter-final against a Wolves team led by Julen Lopetegui, who arrived to England proudly boasting a Europa League winners medal in his suitcase.
However, after ex-Wolves man Willy Boly opened the scoring against his old employers and Raul Jimenez responded in kind, Dean Henderson was the 12-yard hero, stopping Ruben Neves and Joe Hodge's efforts to send the Tricky Trees into a final-four meeting with Manchester United.
Steve Cooper's men have been afforded little time to celebrate their cup exploits as they return to the top-flight basement battle, but a 1-0 win over Southampton courtesy of Taiwo Awoniyi's winner last Wednesday put a bit more daylight between Forest and the drop zone.
The Tricky Trees enter the weekend's fixtures occupying 15th place in the table with 17 points to their name - two clear of Everton in the relegation section - and recording three wins, a draw and two defeats from six post-World Cup games certainly marks a mini turnaround in fortunes.
Furthermore, Cooper's steadily-improving side - whose raft of summer signings are belatedly appearing to gel - have now gone unbeaten in seven successive home games across all tournaments, during which time Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have all failed to prevail.
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What could have been an EFL Cup final between Forest and Leicester will now only take place at the City Ground on Saturday, as the Foxes' bid for silverware ended in dismay against Newcastle, who ran out 2-0 winners in Tuesday's quarter-final battle at St James' Park.
Rodgers's resilient side held out for an hour before Dan Burn finally broke the deadlock, and Joelinton made sure of the result 18 minutes from time to send Leicester - who beat Gillingham 1-0 in the FA Cup three days beforehand - back to the King Power ruing what could have been.
Before making the journey to Walsall in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Leicester now seek to end a wretched three-game losing run in the Premier League, which leaves the Foxes dancing with the devil in 13th place, only two points clear of the dotted line.
The Foxes' 2-1 loss to Liverpool on December 30 represents the only time in their last nine Premier League games that both teams have scored - and even then Wout Faes had to do the Reds' dirty work for them - but travelling fans can take solace in the fact that Rodgers's side have impressively scored in each of their last 15 top-flight games on the road.
Forest were subjected to a 4-0 drubbing when they made the journey to Leicester back in October, and the Foxes could now complete the double over the Tricky Trees for the first time since 1971-72, where Forest ultimately suffered relegtion.
Team News
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Forest's evening in the EFL Cup was not all sunshine and rainbows, as goalscorer Boly had to come off with an ankle injury just after the hour mark and was subsequently pictured with an ice pack on the affected area, sparking fears of his availability for the weekend.
Omar Richards, Cheikhou Kouyate, Giulian Biancone, Jesse Lingard and Moussa Niakhate are definite absentees for Saturday's contest, but Neco Williams could be back from a blow to the nose to play backup to the in-form Serge Aurier, and Cooper is keeping his "fingers crossed" that Awoniyi will be back from a groin issue here.
Scott McKenna should be called upon to deputise for Boly in the backline if need be, and a first Premier League start could come the way of Gustavo Scarpa if Cooper decides not to take a risk on Awoniyi.
As for Leicester, Rodgers also had a packed treatment room to contend with, as Ricardo Pereira, Ryan Bertrand, James Maddison, Boubakary Soumare, James Justin and Jonny Evans are all guaranteed to miss out, while Dennis Praet and Ayoze Perez are doubts.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is battling to recover from a glute injury in time to make the trip, but he may only be fit enough for a spot among the replacements, allowing Ayoze Perez to keep his spot in the XI for the time being if he is fit enough.
Jamie Vardy was guilty of a shocking miss against Newcastle, which will not aid his efforts of displacing Patson Daka up front, but Kelechi Iheanacho could push for a rare start after scoring the game's only goal against Gillingham in the FA Cup.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Aurier, Worrall, McKenna, Lodi; Mangala, Yates, Freuler; Scarpa; Gibbs-White, Johnson
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Castagne, Amartey, Faes, Thomas; Ndidi, Tielemans; Albrighton, Perez, Barnes; Iheanacho
We say: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Leicester City
While Leicester never have any problems making the net ripple on rival territory, trying to keep a revalitalised Forest side out with a depleted defence and midfield is unlikely to prove fruitful.
Both sides will also be battling midweek fatigue, which may render the buoyant mood around the City Ground slightly more ineffective than it would normally be, and we expect the two sides to share the spoils and remain level on points in the rankings.
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