“This is not a given” – Simon Jordan makes Nottingham Forest claim ahead of play-off final clash with Huddersfield | OneFootball

There were jubilant scenes at the City Ground on Tuesday evening as Nottingham Forest secured a trip to the new Wembley Stadium for the first time ever after besting Sheffield United in their Championship play-off semi-final.

It took 210 minutes of football and then a penalty shootout to determine the contest, but in the end it was Brice Samba who was the hero for Forest, saving three spot kicks from Blades players to make sure his side will go on to face Huddersfield Town next Sunday.

However, it could have been a lot simpler for Forest as they went 3-1 up on aggregate during the first half of the second leg thanks to Brennan Johnson’s strike.

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Instead of seeing the game out though, Forest became frail in the second half, conceding twice to their opponents, which ended up taking it to extra time and then the aforementioned shootout.

The second half performance especially of Cooper’s side wasn’t one that fans have become accustomed to and Forest have been sent a warning by ex-Crystal Palace chairman and now pundit Simon Jordan, who believes that they will lose against the Terriers if they play like that again.

Responding to Trevor Sinclair’s prediction that Forest will be successful at Wembley, Jordan said on TalkSPORT, per NottinghamshireLive: “Huddersfield have beaten Nottingham Forest this season, so Huddersfield’s record against Nottingham Forest is not bad.

“This is not a given and Nottingham Forest, if they play anything vaguely resembling like they played in the semi-final, they will lose this final.

“They have to be playing far better than they did in the second leg.”

The Verdict

Make no mistake about it, Huddersfield are set to give Forest a very tough game next Sunday at Wembley.

The two sides have played each other three times already this season – they both won away from home against each other in the league whilst Forest edged the Terriers out in the FA Cup – so they know exactly what each other are about.

Forest’s main threats come on the counter attack with the pace of Brennan Johnson and Djed Spence, whilst Huddersfield do look to sit back and be dangerous on the counter themselves, so the styles of both do indeed clash.

Even though the form of Forest since Steve Cooper arrived in September has been on the whole fantastic, Huddersfield did finish in third position this season, so they cannot be overlooked by anyone going into the play-off final.