Preview: Nottingham Forest home

It's a Midlands derby this weekend as West meets East at Molineux. The game is the first of two big home matches in quick succession for the Wanderers, who have seen a slump in form since the win over Blackburn at the start of October. Since then Wolves have picked up just 3 points (all from draws) out of a possible 21, are without a win in 7 and have dropped from 3rd in the table to 16th. However, due to the topsy-turvy nature of the Championship, whilst we are 6 places above the relegation zone, we are still closer to the play-offs in terms of points (6 points off them, compared to 8 off the relegation zone). Two wins in these next two home games could see us into the top ten at least!

Kightly celebrates his first in the 5-1 demolition of Forest in 08/09

Games between ourselves and Nottingham Forest are always crackers - particularly at Molineux. Our last 5 meetings with them at home have produced 15 goals (most of them for Wolves) and have been filled with entertainment and talking points. We do have a fantastic record against Forest. There have been 114 League meetings between the two sides and Wolves have won 53 of them. Indeed, our last home defeat to them came on Boxing Day 1980 when we lost 4-1. Should we score twice tomorrow, we will reach 200 League goals against Forest. So all the signs point to a very comfortable, relatively easy home victory. However, this is Wolves and we know that it's not always that straightforward. In our last 5 home games we have picked up just 4 points, scoring 8 and conceding 8. This is incredibly frustrating as our performances haven't been too bad at times, we just aren't getting the results to match them.

Greg Halford with one of his traditional throw-ins

Forest bring with them 3 major threats to us tomorrow. Two come in the form of ex-players, Adlene Guedioura and, of course, Greg Halford. Wolves fans all know what Guedioura brings to the pitch - a bite in the tackle but also someone who can run at players and has a rocket shot on him. A lot of Forest (and Wolves) fans are backing him to score tomorrow and that wouldn't surprise me one bit. Especially given our record for ex-players finding the back of the net. Halford will come to Molineux egged on by Forest fans who love watching him pathetically attempt to wind us up on Twitter, spurred on by the Southbank's abuse of him, and determined to prove that he's not just all talk. A player who's long-throws are almost as big as his ego, he will provide a stern test for the rightfully-restored Christophe Berra (well done to The FA for getting that one right!) and the ever-present Roger Johnson. Forest's other test comes in the form of Billy Sharp - a lethal striker on his day who many (including myself) were astounded to see Southampton let go after their promotion to the Premier League. He can score any type of goal and his pace and strength will be something that Wolves will have to guard heavily against.

I think we will see Wolves go with their traditional 4-4-1-1 with Davis (who had a good 15 minutes against Watford) and Doumbia sitting deep and Dave Edwards supporting Kevin Doyle up front. I think Solbakken will want to keep it tight and look to hit Forest on the break. It's a tactic that worked against Brighton and Watford when for spells in each game with ten men, we were arguably the better side. It's a side that should have a lot of energy and that is why I think this could be the game that turns our recent fortunes around.

Prediction: Wolves 2-1 Nottingham Forest

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