Nottingham Forest play Leeds on Friday night, looking to continue their recent good form.
Since beating West Ham in early January, Forest have gone unbeaten in the Premier League, claiming two draws and a win over Brentford.
Eight points from the last four in the Premier League have given the Reds a nice platform to work from, but there remains work to do.
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Getty Images/Jon Hobley
Leeds are also in fine form, but they do come into this on the back of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal at Elland Road last Saturday.
Ahead of the game, the referee has been announced, and that might be a good omen for the Reds…
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche
Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Referee named for Leeds United vs Nottingham Forest
Elland Road under the lights on a Friday night will always require a strong referee, and this week’s game has been handed to Peter Bankes.
The Merseyside-based match official might just be a good omen for Forest, given that he’s overseen some big wins involving the Reds over the last 12 months.
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He last did a Forest match in October when he took charge of Ange Postecoglou’s penultimate game in charge – a 2-0 defeat away at Newcastle.
Prior to that, however, he oversaw six successive wins for Forest, including the penalty shootout win over Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-final that saw the Reds book a Wembley date.
Bankes is a very experienced match official, and hopefully that will ensure nobody is speaking about the officials after Friday’s Elland Road contest.
Forest need game plan at Leeds
One of the big challenges at Leeds is to silence the crowd early doors, and a goal akin to the one scored in the first 12 minutes against Brentford wouldn’t go amiss.
Playing Leeds away is never easy, and thankfully, it’s one of the more senior officials in charge of the game this weekend.
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Dyche will once again understand what is at stake, and the chance to go nine points clear of West Ham before they even play on Saturday should offer a huge incentive.
Forest will have a clear plan of how to win the game, and defeat could once again throw all the pressure back on the Reds as the relegation battle heats up.
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