Jonathan Woodgate drops verdict on Nottingham Forest’s chances of securing a top-six finish

Former AFC Bournemouth and Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate believes Nottingham Forest are ‘destined’ to secure a place in the play-off zone at the end of the season, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live (6/2; 17:56) following their 4-1 victory over Leicester City in the FA Cup yesterday.

Steve Cooper’s men put in a performance worthy of Premier League football at the City Ground against the Foxes, blowing the latter away in the first half with Philip Zinckernagel, Brennan Johnson and Joe Worrall all getting on the scoresheet.

They did concede shortly before half-time with Brice Samba rushing out of his goal prematurely, allowing Kelechi Iheanacho to slot the ball home, but Djed Spence made sure the holders were exiting the competition after some wonderful link-up play with Zinckernagel.

This result has summed up Forest’s time under Cooper, sat rock bottom of the Championship when predecessor Chris Hughton left but are now in eighth position and just two points adrift of the play-offs.

They may have suffered a setback against Cardiff City last weekend following three consecutive league victories – but will be extremely encouraged by yesterday evening’s performance and they will be favourites to secure their place in the Premier League if they can continue to replicate their most recent display.

Pundit Woodgate has backed them to achieve a high finish, though won’t be an easy task with the likes of Middlesbrough, West Brom, Huddersfield Town, Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers also in the play-off mix.

The former Real Madrid centre-back said: “What a performance from Forest. A first-class performance. It could have been 6-1. They were that good today. They’re destined for the play-offs.

“The two wing-backs were flying