Nottingham Forest promotion target laid out as thrilling finish awaits

Nottingham Forest have a big 10 games ahead as the Championship promotion race gears up for a thrilling finish.

The table is incredibly tight. A number of teams remain in the hunt for a top-six spot, with the Reds firmly in the mix.

Just 10 points separate second-placed Bournemouth from QPR in eighth, with Forest a point and a place further back. Even Millwall, in 10th, will still not have given up hope of gatecrashing the play-off spots.

Steve Cooper’s side have momentum behind them, having been on a nine-match unbeaten run prior to losing 1-0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup. And Sunday’s defeat shouldn’t disrupt that; indeed, the way the hosts performed should only add to their sense of belief, having pushed their Premier League opponents all the way.

The Reds also have at least one game in hand on most of their rivals. In some cases, they have three.

But how many points will they need to give themselves a shot of reaching the top-flight? Forest currently have 58 from 36 matches played. It’s difficult to predict what the threshold will be, but here’s a look at how many points the team in sixth picked up in the last 10 seasons.

- Bournemouth, 77 points

- Swansea City, 70 points (decided on goal difference)

- Derby County, 74 points

- Derby County, 75 points

- Fulham, 80 points

- Sheffield Wednesday, 74 points

- Ipswich Town, 78 points (decided on goal difference)

- Brighton and Hove Albion, 72 points

- Leicester City, 68 points (decided on goal difference)

- Cardiff City, 75 points

That puts the average at roughly 74 points. Whether that will be enough to finish in the play-off places this year remains to be seen.

If the benchmark does prove to be around there, Cooper’s men would need about 16 points from their last