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Swansea City and Nottingham Forest meet this evening in the second-leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.
Fresh from a 0-0 draw in Nottingham last week, the Welsh side are favourites to progress to the Wembley final. They are excellent on home soil and with a victory of any nature required, they are expected to get the job done.
There is no way that this is a foregone conclusion though. Swansea do have a superb home record with just three defeats at the Liberty Stadium all season, but Forest are more than capable on the road.
Billy Davies’ men have won their last two away games, scoring six goals along the way, so they will go into this one in a positive frame of mind.
Many point to the fact that Forest failed to break down 10-man Swansea in the first game, saying that they missed an excellent chance to take an advantage to Wales this evening.
In reality though, Swansea were the better side for large periods despite the early dismissal of Neil Taylor and could have won the game. With this in mind, Forest should perhaps be thankful that they are still level in the tie and in with a great chance of reaching the final.
Swansea boss Brendan Rogers will know this one isn’t over too. He was calm in his interview after the first game and stressed how it was only half-time in the tie. They would have settled for going into the home game on level terms though, so they will be in confident mood.
The thing is with the play-offs is that they are very hard to predict. Swansea are favourites to emerge victorious, but can a third away win in a row for Forest be ruled out? Of course not.
Looking at the team news for this one, Swansea will be without the suspended Taylor after his appeal against the red card picked up in the first game was unsuccessful. They will be boosted by the news that the influential Fabio Borini is expected to be fit though.
As for Forest, they are hoping that Robbie Findley and Guy Moussi will be passed fit to play after they sat out the clash at the City Ground.
Overall, this could be when this year’s Championship play-offs come to life. It is now or never for both of these teams if they are to be within one game of the Premier League.
