Derby County manager Frank Lampard says Nottingham Forest "should be in the mix" for the Championship's play-offs places.
Forest sit two points and two places behind the Rams in ninth place, three points off sixth-placed Aston Villa in the final play-offs spot.
The Reds beat Derby 1-0 at the City Ground back in February, but failed to build on their first win over their arch-rivals since 2015 and climb into the play-offs.
Instead, Martin O'Neill's side have hovered around the top-six and fell as low as 11th after a 1-1 draw with rock-bottom Ipswich Town last month.
But Saturday's 2-1 defeat of Swansea City has set up a grandstand finale on Trentside with seven matches of the season remaining.
And Lampard says Forest can't be discounted from the play-offs conversation.
"They should be in the mix with the squad they have got," he told DerbyshireLive .
"They recruited heavily in the summer. I think they have got good players and they should be in there.
"It adds spice locally in terms of rivalry, but I not too concerned with that one. I am more concerned with what we do to try and get in those play-off spots."
