Fifth-placed Nottingham Forest will be aiming to further close the gap behind their promotion rivals when they host out-of-sorts Watford at their City Ground.

Meanwhile, the Hornets are hoping to build on the promising display in the FA Cup clash with Manchester City and finally kick-start their league campaign.

Having missed out on a play-off berth by losing to Leicester on the final day of last season, Forest were determined to mount a serious promotion challenge this term, and the club did really well to reinforce the squad over the summer.

Following the signing of quite a few players with Premiership experience, Billy Davies’ side enjoyed a strong start to the season and they have never looked back.

The team have been especially impressive of late, having gone unbeaten for 11 fixtures in all competitions, climbing to fifth in the Championship standings.

And seeing as how the match against struggling Watford is a perfect opportunity to close the gap behind automatic promotion places, it is hardly surprising Nottingham Forest are 2.10 (11/10) favourites to claim maximum points.

Key midfielder Henri Lansbury remains suspended, whereas Chris Cohen and Dexter Blackstock are out injured.

Jamal Lascelles could return to the side after recovering from injury, but Kevin Wilson continues to miss out through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Darlow – Jara, Lascelles, Collins, Lichaj – Majewski, Vaughan, Reid, Paterson – Mackie, Cox.

Watford were even closer to gaining promotion to the Premier League than their next opponents, having lost in the play-off final, and the team have since struggled to recover from the costly defeat to Crystal Palace.

The Hornets enjoyed a bright start to the new campaign, but their form soon started taking a turn for the worse, with the team winning just one league fixture in last 14 games.

As a result, their promotion bid appears to be effectively over, with Watford now in danger of slipping into the danger zone.

New boss Giuseppe Sanino is still unable to get the maximum out of his side, although the team have been showing signs of promise in recent weeks.

And with the Hornets coming close to producing an upset at Etihad, they are priced at 4.00 (3/1) to defeat Nottingham on the road.

Alexander Merkel and Fitz Hall return from suspension, whereas Almen Abdi and Tommie Hoban are also available for selection.

Iriney and Lewis McGugan face fitness tests, whilst Essaid Belkalem and Reece Brown are definitely out through injury.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Almunia – Angella, Hall, Ekstrand – Faraoni, Murray, Battocchio, Abdi, Pudil – Forestieri, Deeney.