Forest to Heap Misery on West Ham

At halftime on Wednesday night West Ham were well on course to reach a major Wembley Cup Final and in doing so possibly turn their season around. An hour or so later they had blown a two goal advantage and slumped off dejectedly. On Sunday afternoon they host a rampant promotion-chasing Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup and, given the contrasting levels of morale, the Premiership scalp looks there for the taking.

Forest are fifth in the Championship, one point off automatic promotion, and improving fast. They have won their last five games in all competition and remain unbeaten since November. Last Saturday they won one of their biggest fixtures of the season when a late Rob Earnshaw strike defeated bitter local rivals Derby, on their own patch. This seemed particularly noteworthy because until recently Forest were only formidable at the City Ground, where they remain unbeaten.

Significantly, the signs are now there that Billy Davies’ side can produce the goods away from home, where they have won three on the bounce. This is all bodes very badly for the Premiership’s bottom team who will struggle to justify their favourite’s tag for this game. A Forest win looks highly tempting to back at 13/5 with StanJames.