‘Everything is possible’: Nottingham Forest draw fire in fight for survival

S hortly after the final whistle had blown on a cool Saturday afternoon at Stamford Bridge, Nottingham Forest’s players walked over to their supporters and formed a mutual show of appreciation. It was also a mutual show of belief. Yes Forest could, and probably should, have won, but in that moment there was a clear, collective understanding that a point at Chelsea – even this Chelsea – is not to be sniffed at and may well prove crucial in this tightest of relegation scraps.

A 2-2 draw combined with the one at Elland Road a few hours earlier meant Forest ended the day as they had started it – 16th and three points above the bottom three. A small cushion but a cushion nevertheless and with only two games remaining this season the maths has become simple for Steve Cooper’s side – one more victory all but secures safety. Hence the rousing, raucous love-in down by the Shed End and talk afterwards from Serge Aurier and Taiwo Awoniyi of Arsenal’s visit on Saturday and the final‑day trip to Crystal Palace being akin to cup finals.

For Aurier it is very much a case of get the job done as quickly as possible, in other words: beat Arsenal. “They fight for the Premier League and we fight to stay in the Premier League and for us it’s a big final because if we win we are [virtually] safe,” said the Ivorian full-back.

“So it’s really important for everyone to stay calm. We do the job here, now we rest and then we prepare for the game [against Arsenal]. If we play with the same mentality, fight and stick together then everything is possible.”

That Forest find themselves in this position is somewhat remarkable given it was less than a month ago that they hit a 11-game winless run that sunk them to 19th and going nowhere except straight