Nottingham Forest aiming for play-off revenge against Swansea City eight years on

Nottingham Forest’s quest for precious points towards a Championship play-off place sees Swansea City visit the City Ground on Saturday.

Ironically, the last time the two sides met was in the 2011 play-off semi-final with the Premier League again the target.

This time Swansea have slipped out of the promotion race, but back in 2011 they proved a stumbling block too far for the Reds.

After a goalless draw at the City Ground, when the Reds played against 10 men for 89 minutes, the Swans won the second leg 3-1.

It was another occasion of the Reds’ play-off semi-final hoodoo striking as they lost a fourth successive chance to reach the final.

On Saturday the Reds will kick-off five places outside the top six, but just three points adrift of sixth-placed Aston Villa.

It will be their first match for two weeks after the international break.

Boss Martin O’Neill will be looking for an improvement o their last match, a 1-1 draw at Ipswich, when a poor start cost the Reds the chance of three points.

It was revealed in the week that Portugal Under-21 winger Diogo Goncalves, on a season-long loan at the City Groud from Benfica, is likely to return to Portugal at the end of the season.

Goncalves, 22, has struggled to make an impact after signing alongside fellow Portugese Joao Carvalho.

He has made 10 appearances, but his only league start came on the opening day of the season at Bristol City.