Home draw in Cup

Nottingham Forest have been handed a home tie in the third round of the FA Cup, after drawing Premiership side Birmingham City.

The Blues will travel to the City Ground on either Saturday the 2nd of January or Sunday the 3rd of January.

Forest pulled off the shock of the round at this stage of the competition last year, when they defeated big spending Manchester City 3-0 at Eastlands. The goals that day came from Nathan Tyson, Robert Earnshaw and Joe Garner.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/8384168.stm"< Here is the full 3rd round draw.

Forest crush Doncaster

Nottingham Forest moved up to 4th in the Championship table, after a convincing 4-1 victory of Doncaster Rovers.

The Reds' goals came courtesy of an own goal by Gareth Roberts and strikes from Wes Morgan, Robert Earnshaw and substitute Lewis McGugan.

Rovers did pull a goal back late on through Billy Sharp, but they were second best to Forest all game.

Manager Billy Davies decided to put Robert Earnshaw in the starting line up after his goal against Middlesbrough last week ensured a point for the Reds, and it paid off as the Welsh international looked sharp all game and scored a deserved goal in the second half which led to his trademark somersault celebration in front of the Trent End.

It was a performance that deserved three points, and leaves Forest in confident mood ahead of next Saturday's East Midlands showdown with Leicester City, where a win will see Forest go third in the table.

Forest Shorey up defence

Nottingham Forest have signed experienced defender Nicky Shorey on an emergency loan from Aston Villa.

The move sees the former Reading man move across the Midlands in the search of regular first team football, after falling down the pecking order at Villa Park following the signing of Stephen Warnock.

The signature of the two capped England man sees Forest's left back problems eased significantly. Last season's player of the year Chris Cohen has been playing in that position, but as we all know his best position is in midfield.

First choice left back Julian Bennett is still a long term injury casualty, and summer signing Joel Lynch is seen by manager Billy Davies as a future centre half than a left back.

So the signing of Shorey will certainly feel like Davies is no longer having to put round pegs in square holes in the left back position, with the impressive acquisition of a Premiership full back.

Whether the Reds look to sign Shorey in January remains to be seen, but Davies has also revealed he is lining up an ambitious move for Spurs man Garath Bale.

If any move for the Welshman does materialised it will be for big money, after Spurs spent £5 million to sign Bale from Southampton and still rate him as a real prospect.

However, his Welsh teammates Rob Earnshaw and close friend Chris Gunter may give the Reds an edge in their arsenal as they look to sell the ambition of the club to Bale.

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Forest look at permanent Majewski move

The news that all Forest fans were hoping to hear has arrived, as Billy Davies today confirmed he is looking to sign the Polish international on a longer deal.

Majewski arrived at the City Ground in the summer on a years loan from Polonia Warsaw and has impressed in the opening months of the season.

He quickly became a fans favourite on Trentside after netting a spectacular opener in the win over rivals Derby County.

Majewski has admitted he is keen to remain at Forest, who have first option on buying the midfielder from his parent club.

Most Forest fans will be delighted with this news as the Reds look to establish a squad capable of challenging for promotion.

cited on the forest website from a Polish news article

Davies unhappy with loanees

Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies has admitted he is frustrated with the lack of progress being made by his young stars, currently out on loan at lower league clubs.

Davies is unhappy that not all of his players on loan are getting first team action at their temporary clubs. This comes after the Scot decided to scrap the Forest reserve side and instead send his fringe players out on loan, where he thought they would all get first team action and gain more experience than playing reserve team football.

However, it has not really worked that way as most of the players Davies sent out on loan are not playing.

Brendan Moloney started regularly for neighbours Notts County but has struggled to get in the team recently. County are apparently looking to sign the Irish right back permanently however.

Matt Thornhill joined Brighton on loan as part of the Joel Lynch transfer, but the Wollaton midfielder has struggled to make an impact on the South Coast.

Joe Heath has also failed to play regular football at Lincoln City, whilst keeper Shane Redmond has started just one game for League Two new boys Burton Albion.

Mark Byrne and James Reid are at least featuring for Rushden and Diamonds, but that is in the Blue Square Premier and may be a while before the two midfielders are ready to feature in Davies' thoughts for the first team at the City Ground.

Reds earn point but feels like a loss

Nottingham Forest earned a point against promotion rivals Bristol City, but will be very disappointed not to have taken all three.


The Reds opened the scoring with just five minutes to go, when big centre back Wes Morgan fired home following a corner.



However, Forest switched off in injury time to allow Danny Haynes to creep in and place the ball past keeper Lee Camp. It was the only time City had really carved an opening after a mix of superb defending by Kelvin Wilson and Morgan, as well as some very negative tactics from City.



Gary Johnson's men obviously came to Trentside with the intentions to frustrate Forest by having 11 men behind the ball and putting in very strong tackles.



So strong infact as it was a mystery as to why one of the City players did not get sent off. In form striker Nicky Marnard could have gone as early as eight seconds for a horror challenge on full back Chris Gunter.



On loan midfielder Evander Sno made at least six 'booking worthy' tackles that referee Anthony Taylor and his two female assistants decided to look over. Sno was eventually sunstituted by Johnson before he was sent off.



Forest were much the better team on the day but never really created any chances themselves on a frustrating day.



The closest Forest came to a winner was when the lively Garath McCleary crossed for Paul Anderson who had a tap in, but a brilliant recovery tackle from Cole Skuse saw the ball spin agonisingly away from goal and into the arms of Dean Gerken.



In the end both teams had to settle for a point which was probably a fair result on reflection, but Forest will be annoyed at their failure to see the game out and not take all three points.

Forest face difficult Bristol City clash.

Nottingham Forest face a difficult tie against in-form Bristol City, at the City Ground on Saturday.

The game promises to be a real mouth-watering fixture, as the league's two in-form sides go head to head.

Forest will need to watch City marksman Nicky Maynard carefully, as the former Crewe Alexandra hitman has scored nine goals already this season and is bang in form.

Forest striker Dele Adebola could be in line to start against the club he left in the summer, after playing a part in Lewis McGugan's injury time leveler against Cardiff last Sunday.

The last time the two sides met at the City Ground, Dexter Blackstock fired home a last minute winner for the Reds which went a long way to help Forest securing their safety in the Championship. Blackstock volleyed home a Joe Garner knockdown, before going into the Trent End to celebrate with the jubilant home fans.

Young Reds batter Rams

It is always nice to see your team beat your local rivals at whatever level, so I was delighted to see Forest's under 18 side beat Derby 6-3 in the FA Premier academy league.

Tom Cullen netted a hat-trick and there were also goals for Danny Meadows, Neil Byrne and George Thomson during the rout.

Forest's youngsters are coached by former player Eoin Jess, who replaced Chris Fairclough after his promotion to the first team coaching staff,, and Jess was delighted that the performance gained the result it deserved at Wilford Lane.

Forest have now won three on the bounce and the future looks promising for a club renowned for producing quality young talent.

Another one of Forest's youngsters, Aaron Mitchell today linked up with Ilkeston Town on loan. The move should offer Mitchell valuable experience as he looks to eventually break into the first team picture at the City Ground.

Tyson injury blow.

Nottingham Forest were today dealt a severe blow as striker Nathan Tyson was ruled out for up to a month, with a calf strain he picked up in training on Friday.

The injury was enough to keep the former Wycombe Wanderers man out of the trip to Cardiff, and has now proved to be more serious than first thought and will keep him out of action for a while.

Manager Billy Davies has hinted at dipping into the loan market following Tyson's injury, as he joins top profile hitmen Robert Earnshaw and Dexter Blackstock on the sidelines.

Julian Bennett remains a long term injury victim, whilst Joel Lynch and James Perch continue to recover and have been on the bench in recent games.

How much do you think Forest will miss Tyson? Do you think that Davies should bring in cover, or wait until Earnshaw and Dexter are both back fit after the international break?

Reds maintain unbeaten away record.

Nottingham Forest remain the only side in the country yet to lose away from home, after a dramatic last minute goal saw them draw 1-1 at Cardiff City.

Substitute Lewis McGugan fired home a minute into injury time to secure a deserved point for the Reds, after Jay Bothroyd had fired Cardiff into the lead midway through the second half.

Forest were without top scorer Dexter Blackstock and pace man Nathan Tyson who were both ruled out through injury, so that meant returns to the side for Guy Moussi and Radoslaw Majewski.

The Reds started brightly in their first outing in the new Cardiff City Stadium and could have opened the scoring when striker David McGoldrick raced through, but a heavy touch forced him wide and the former Southampton striker fired wide.

Paul Anderson was terrorising young full back Aaron Matthews and there was a big shout for a penalty when the youngster seemed to clip Anderson, but Referee Graham Salisbury waved away the protest.

Reds keeper Lee Camp then pulled off a superb double save. First the former Derby stopper kept out Chopra's shot, before recovering to beat away Joe Ledley's follow up.

Camp then produced a sublime tip over the bar from Peter Whittingham's dipping long range drive.

Anderson then missed a glorious chance as his placed shot went agonisingly the wrong side of the post.

Whittingham then caused a ten man melee after a late tackle on ex-Bluebird Chris Gunter, who was booed throughout by the home crowd, and was eventually booked once the Ref had settled the two teams down.

Just before the break Polish international Majewski went close with a free kick that had Marshall well beat in terrible wintery conditions.

Cardiff took the lead midway through the second half after a counter attacking, free flowing move saw Jay Bothroyd slot the ball past Camp and into the net. Forest were convinced that the former Coventry and Perugia striker was offside when the ball was played, but it was tight and the goal was given.

Davies threw on Adebola, McGugan and Mcleary in the second half to try and create an opening for the Reds but the game looked to be getting away from them.

However, as the board went up for four minutes injury, McGugan collected a knock down from Dele Adebola and after the ball deflected back into the midfielders path off Mark Hudson the Long Eaton born man made no mistake as he unleashed an unstoppable left foot shot into the top corner.

The man in the mask had ensured that the Reds continued their unbeaten away record which no other team in the country has been able to match.

So how do you fellow Forest fans feel about a point in South Wales? Does McGugan deserve to start against Bristol City next week?

Also as the game was on BBC, are there any other fans who watched the game? how do you felt Forest played and do you think they can challenge for a play-off place?