Forest have won two in a row but that does not make Friday’s clash with Newcastle any more straightforward.
Nottingham Forest manager Philippe Montanier has admitted that Newcastle United have the strongest attack in the Championship, The Chronicle reports.
Two of English football’s sleeping giants clash at the City Ground on Friday night, exactly a week after Forest enjoyed their most complete performance of the campaign with a 5-2 thrashing of Barnsley at Oakwell.
The result, inspired by a Henri Lansbury hat-trick (below) and one apiece from Apostalos Vellios and Ben Osborn, means Forest are now comfortably the second highest scorers in the Championship, with only The Magpies finding the back of the net with more regularity.
And Montanier admits that, despite the presence of powerhouse hitman Britt Assombalonga in his ranks, Rafael Benitez possesses the most formidable attack in the division.
“Newcastle are the best team in the Championship, they have the best attack and one of the best defences,” the Frenchman, who has alleviated some of the speculation over his future with two wins on the bounce, said in quotes reported by The Chronicle.
“They have won a lot of games and are a good team with a great manager.”
Dwight Gayle (below), the Championship’s top scorer with 13 goals, will be expected to lead the line once more against Forest, with Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic likely to be among the substitutes following their disappointing displays in last weekend’s shock home defeat to Blackburn Rovers
However, while the latter duo have failed to find consistency this season, you could make a case for all three being Premier League quality, and that’s without mentioning Matt Ritchie and Yoan Gouffran.
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