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Montanier wants third straight win
Written by Dan King
Nottingham Forest head coach Philippe Montanier has challenged his side to make it three wins out of three on Friday night - despite his belief that Newcastle United are the best side in the division.
The City Ground side were 5-2 winners at Barnsley last Friday, having posted a 2-0 victory at Ipswich in their previous game before that.
That has seen them climb up the table after a rotten October, when they lost four games out of five, but Montanier is refusing to get too carried away by his team's upturn in form.
He told nottinghamforest.co.uk: "I would like to be prudent. If you lose two or three games it is dangerous as you can move towards the bottom, but if you win three games you can reach the top ten.
"We need a positive result on Friday and we can do it. You have to be clear and not panic when you have a bad result, and if you have positive results you also have to be clear and focus on the next game. We have been working hard and the results are always a consequence of that hard work.
"For me, Newcastle are the best team in the Championship. They have the best attack and one of the best defences. They have won a lot of games and are a good team with a good manager. It is a tough challenge but we are excited for it.
"It is always a good challenge when we have to play against the best teams. It was important to win the last two games to play against Newcastle with more confidence."
Montanier could recall Britt Assombalonga, who missed the win at Barnsley, but defender Hildeberto Pereira is suspended. Armand Traore and Eric Lichaj are injury doubts for Forest.