Nottingham Forest could move above Queens Park Rangers and into fourth in the Championship table with a victory at home to Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

Forest's form has stuttered slightly in recent weeks, with just one victory in their last five matches in all competitions, but their overall form over the past three months has been very impressive.

A 3-1 defeat to Burnley last Saturday brought an end to their 14-match unbeaten streak in the Championship, a run that has seen them move up to fifth in the table.

They are six points clear of seventh-placed Wigan, although the Latics do have a game in hand and could move to within striking distance if they are able to win on Saturday.

Forest will be looking to bounce straight back to winning ways, however, and their recent home record certainly suggests that they have the capabilities to do so.

Billy Davies's side are unbeaten in their last nine games at the City Ground, winning six of them and picking up 17 points from a possible 21 in the league.

Henri Lansbury, Chris Cohen, David Vaughan and Kelvin Wilson are all still injury doubts for the hosts, while Andy Reid has also been ruled out for up to a month.

Wigan will certainly be no pushovers for Forest and the Latics have their sights set firmly on joining their opponents in the top six.

A win could be enough for them to do so, depending on results elsewhere, but they do have the luxury of a game in hand to fall back on should they slip up along the way.

There have been no signs of doing that in recent weeks, with four straight victories in all competitions and only two defeats in their last 17 matches.

Both of those defeats did come on the road, but Wigan's away record is by no means poor with three consecutive victories, including a Premier League scalp in the form of Cardiff City in the FA Cup.

The Latics will be boosted by the arrival of Ryan Tunnicliffe on loan, while Nick Powell is also nearing a return from injury. Long-term absentees Ben Watson, Shaun Maloney and Gary Caldwell remain sidelined, however.

Recent form

Nottm Forest: WDWLDL

Wigan: WLWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Nottm Forest: Darlow; Halford, Hobbs, Lascelles, Fox; Jara, Greening; Mackie, Moussi, Paterson; Cox

Wigan: Al-Habsi; Boyce, Barnett, Perch, Beausejour; McArthur, Espinoza; McClean, McCann, Waghorn; Maynard

Sports Mole says: 2-2

Previews by email