The festive period is traditionally a tricky time for football clubs. A sudden increase in fixtures and a change in conditions results in a period of games that can make or break a season. This rings true for Forest this season.
Despite going into the festive run-in with only one loss in their past 14 games, it will still be a testing time for Steve Cooper’s men.
Since coming in Cooper has transformed Forest from a side that were bottom of the Championship and winless into a team that have been found to be very hard to beat.
The tricky period starts with Cooper returning to his former club Swansea, where he stamped his name on English football.
Cooper joined Forest after leading Swansea to a Championship play-off final despite having a moderate budget.
Play-off final defeat was enough for Cooper to leave his role as head coach in July and go on to join Forest in September.
Forest and Swansea occupy 13th and 14th place respectively and are chasing play-off places with Forest being six points off the top six.
Swansea have been a mixed bag this season under Russell Martin, impressive football at times but just like Forest have struggled to find that winning touch.
A win for Cooper against his old side would prove to be extremely valuable and could see them shoot up the table.
Cooper’s knowledge of the Swansea squad could also prove invaluable as Forest have not beaten them since September 2019.
