After nine months of toil, drama and 45 games, the end of the Championship season will greet Nottingham Forest on Sunday, when crisis club Bolton Wanderers visit Trentside, in a reverse of the final day showdown from 12 months ago.
Forest will play out their final game of the campaign in front of another big City Ground crowd and will hope to earn a third straight league win for the first time all season.
In recent weeks, and since the Reds’ hopes of earning a place in the top six ended, boss Martin O’Neill has opted to chop and change his system and its personnel.
That’s seen the likes of Jack Colback playing at left-back, Luke Steele playing in goal and Karim Ansarifard up front, with the latter netting the winner at Loftus Road a week ago.
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And it may well be the same again for O’Neill, as he looks to have one final look at his players before they head off on their summer holidays, and for some, it could be the final chance to impress and convince him of their worth.
Forest have a huge squad and one the Ulsterman will be keen to trim dramatically over the course of the close season, while there are youngsters in the form of Arvin Appiah and Brennan Johnson that will be given greater involvement in the warmer months.
Joao Carvalho has been impressive in the last two wins against Middlesbrough and QPR, with the number 10 likely to flourish against a beleaguered Bolton side, and it would be fitting if Joe Lolley and Lewis Grabban ended strong personal seasons with a fitting finale on Sunday.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Tobias Figueiredo will be given a first start on his return from an injury which has kept him out of action since December, while the manager could be keen to thrust Sam Byram back into the thick of the action before his loan spell comes to an end.
There’s plenty to ponder for the manager ahead of the game with Phil Parkinson’s already relegated Trotters, so pick your team below…
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