Why Nottingham Forest star will head to Bournemouth with fire in his belly

Striker Sam Surridge “relishes” the big occasions - and he knows they don’t come much bigger than Nottingham Forest’s clash at Bournemouth.

Automatic promotion is a real possibility for the Reds as this season reaches its climax, with Tuesday night near enough a winner-takes-all encounter in the fight for second place. Victory for the hosts would clinch their place in the Premier League, while three points for Steve Cooper’s side would see them leapfrog their opponents on goal difference with one game to go.

Even a draw would not extinguish Forest’s hopes completely. A point apiece would still take it down to the final day.

For Surridge, the midweek showdown is also a return to his former club. And he makes the trip in red-hot form, having bagged a hat-trick in Saturday’s 5-1 demolition of Swansea City to take his tally to eight in 18 appearances for the team he joined in January.

“I relish the big occasions,” said the forward, who last bagged a treble when playing on loan for non-league Poole Town six years ago. “For all the covid stuff that has happened in the past couple of years, for me to be at a club like this now, playing in front of a full crowd, it’s absolutely massive for myself. I’m thriving on it at the moment, so I’ve just got to keep pushing and doing what I have been doing.

“For Forest, there’s going to be big games coming up. Tuesday is just another one.

“Saturday was one of the biggest games of the season. Tuesday will be another big game.

“We’ve just got to keep doing what we have been doing, keep believing and doing what the manager wants us to do. We’ve got to put in a good performance there and see where it takes us.

“We all believe in what we want to do. If we keep doing what we practice every day,