After a two-week respite, Nottingham Forest head into what could prove to be a defining time in their season.
Sixteen games in - or 15 for the Reds - the Championship table remains incredibly congested. Just 11 points separate 13th-placed Birmingham City and front-runners West Bromwich Albion.
The Reds themselves are well placed among the leading pack. They are fifth, five points behind the Baggies and with that precious game in hand.
The forthcoming weeks, though, could be when the promotion runners and riders really start to take shape as the fixtures come thick and fast.
With no one team yet running away with the second tier, Sabri Lamouchi’s men will be looking to keep themselves very much in contention over the festive and winter period.
Starting with a trip to Bristol City on Saturday, before 2019 is out Forest will also go to QPR, Millwall, Huddersfield Town and Hull City. And they have home games with Cardiff City, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers on the horizon before the new year.
“Coming up to Christmas time and around January is always a tough period in the season,” says Reds reporter Sarah Clapson in our latest Forest video.
“People talk about how important it is, and you can see that because of the number of fixtures that rack up.
“At this time of the year, the table does start to open up a little bit.
“At the minute it’s so tight. There’s not much between first and midway. There are so few points between so many teams - no-one is really starting to pull away yet.
“If you can put a good run together at this time, you’ll be right up there.
“Forest are in a good place at the minute and they’ve shown they can beat anybody.
“They can go to tough places and get results.
“They’ve shown they can play well and they’ve shown they can get results when they’re not playing well.
“They’ve got this battling quality - and that’s something they need to retain going forward.”
