No real complaints over the result, Newcastle probably just edged the game but we contributed to a decent game which turned on the opening goal. If we’d nicked a goal at the start of the second half, we might have seen a repeat of the West Brom performance but we failed to score when playing well and suffered as a result.

Having looked pretty comfortable for an hour, we conceded a really unlucky goal and the game slipped away from us. Cohen’s square pass hit Majewski’s heal and fell nicely for Ameobi to score with a scuffed shot through Perch’s legs into the bottom corner.

Tiredness and injury saw the withdrawal of Tyson, Majewski and Blackstock and we looked half the team as McCleary, Earnshaw and McGoldrick barely contributed.

Unfortunately, once the opening goal had been conceded we never looked like getting back into the game and it was no surprise when they killed off the game in injury time with another classy finish. Credit to our travelling fans - very few left after the second goal, despite the long journey home, to applaud the team off after a creditable performance.

This left us with a very similar feeling to most of the other recent away defeats. We didn’t make the most of the opportunities came our way, gave away goals that could have been prevented and lacked a little bit of support from the officials. A couple of over the top challenges didn’t receive the punishment they deserved whilst we had more reasonable penalty shouts turned down.

Defensively we looked pretty solid with MOTM Perch having an outstanding first half and another decent performance after the break. The current setup with him at right back and Gunter at left back looks like our best option despite losing the obvious attacking prowess of the latter on his natural side.

In midfield, we found space going forwards and looked dangerous on the break, however too often we lacked that clinical pass when we looked like threatening. We contained them pretty well for the first half and then had a real go after the break. Blackstock swung and missed and then lacked a little composure with another chance. Tyson’s free header was probably the best chance and he should have done much better than tamely find their keeper.

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Tags: Games Lost, MOTM James Perch

Up to twelve and counting now. Whilst the players looked our strongest starting XI, we started with an unfamiliar line-up with Majewski playing on the left and Anderson down the middle. This didn’t really work, missing Anderson’s running wide and Majewski’s involvement in central areas and we swapped after about half an hour.

Anderson had one dipping shot, well saved, from outside the area but nothing really to get excited about. Out of nothing, that changed as we entered injury time. MOTM Morgan won the ball on the half-way line, it found it’s way to Anderson down the left and his pull back found Morgan first time with a rocket from 22 yards.

Whilst the first half was pretty tough going with too many passes going astray, after the break we started to show a bit of the footballing side from earlier in the season. Admittedly, we were helped out by the early red card for a blatant hand ball with Earnshaw running in on goal. Palace looked disorganised and struggled to cope being a man down for long spells. Their few chances all came from Ambrose free kicks but Camp was alive to produce two excellent saves to keep them out.

We made the most of the man advantage and found plenty of space in midfield with Anderson looking lively again down the left hand side.

It was good to see Tyson finally get a break and being allowed to play down the middle. He’s been treated primarily as a left winger this season without really being considered in his natural position. His first touch from Anderson’s pass took him round the keeper to score from a narrow angle. Fellow sub McCleary created problems down the right but just lacked that conviction to go for goal having down the hard work himself. One left foot shot looked to be heading for the bottom corner until a decent save turned it away.

Both Tyson and McCleary made a difference in the closing stages and their pace on the break could be invaluable against tiring defences in the coming weeks.

Cohen, looking much more prominent in centre midfield, had the chance to complete the evening but skied his shot from the penalty spot when it looked easier to score.

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Tags: Games Won, MOTM Wes Morgan

Back at the City Ground and it was normal service resumed with another home victory taking our run to an amazing 11 straight wins. It wasn’t the best of performances but at this stage of the season, it’s only results that count. Peterborough caused us plenty of problems and we had to rely on MOTM Camp to make a number of vital saves.

We scored early through a typically clinical finish from Earnshaw but failed to really build on the lead. Gunter cut inside onto his left foot, found Anderson at the far post to provide the perfect pull-back.

We created enough decent chances to have made the game safe but found another opposition keeper in good form. Earnshaw, Cohen, Blackstock and then McCleary were all denied with impressive saves.

It was a similar story at the other end with Camp saving when they found themselves clean through whilst another tip over from a powerful header was the best of the afternoon. A number of accurate, quickly taken goal-kicks got us moving forwards on the break and nearly led to further goals.

Injuries continue to mount up with Perch failing to last the first half after a number of well-timed tackles. Credit to his replacement, Chambers for a solid enough performance when clearly out of position.

For the majority of the game, we struggled to get our fluent passing game going. At times our best play-maker was Morgan who brought the ball confidently out of defence on a number of occasions.

Majewski looked lively on the few times we found himself in space but too often he was crowed out in midfield. He remains the most likely in the team to produce that moment of match winning quality. On the down side, he seems to be picking up a number of bookings recently with this habit of jumping block tackles which look dangerous than they really are but will always get you in trouble.

Anderson and Cohen were full of running in wide areas whilst McCleary’s late cameo produced a number of direct runs and can consider himself unlucky not to have doubled the lead. Moussi did a lot of the untidy work in McKenna’s absence but too often proceeded to just give the ball away again.

Blackstock continues to prove that he’s the best striker at the club, battling for everything and showing quality in everything that he does. Earnshaw might not contribute as much as his partner but has that invaluable ability to be in the right place at the right time – his goal scoring record in home games speaks for itself.

West Brom look like they’ve found form at the right time and automatic promotion may well be just out of our reach. The play offs would be a fantastic achievement considering the extra resources available to the teams above us. Another couple of wins should give us enough points to make this secure. We can then spend the remaining games regaining our impressive form from earlier in the season.

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Tags: Games Won, MOTM Lee Camp

Another away trip to mediocre opposition but yet another defeat. The belief that flowed through the side a couple of months ago is a distant memory as we stutter through away games and struggle to exert any impression on the opposition.

It was far from our worst performance of the season but still not really good enough for a side challenging at the top of the Championship. The defence looks fragile when placed under the slightest pressure, whilst the midfield struggles to keep possession for long enough to create enough for the forwards in front of them.

In a scrappy first half, Adebola missed a couple of decent chances when through on goal with the game goal-less. At the other end, Barnsley won most of the ‘second balls’ but weren’t good enough to seriously threaten apart from the one chance that came their way.

A free kick on the half way line was lumped into the area where Morgan didn’t challenge properly, they kept the ball alive and scored with a looping header from about 14 yards. We should easily have defended this but yet another sloppy goal to concede.

Adebola missed one chance on his right foot and then hit an even better, with his stronger left, wide again. The rest was a frustrating experience with the side never really looking like hitting any form.

Similar story in the second half and eventually the frustration got too much for Earnshaw with a laughable challenge on one of their players to concede a needless penalty.

Things only really improved when Blackstock replaced Adebola and started to show some real attacking threat. One header destined for the top corner was well saved but he was unable to hold onto another effort and Blackstock was first to score from the rebound.

We had plenty of possession and crosses into the box but it felt like it wasn’t going to be our night until yet another terrible refereeing decision against us. After recent penalty shouts denied in most away games, this time Earnshaw pounced on a goal keeping mistake to ‘equalise’ but an alleged foul on their keeper soon saw it ruled out. The frustrations of our players was there for all to see after another one of those games where form, luck and rubbish officials went against us.

No real players stood out but MOTM Moussi had a reasonable game in midfield and did most the scruffy things pretty well. Perch looked an obvious weak-link in defence, whilst Wilson and Morgan never really dominated their forwards as they are easily capable of. Majewksi struggled to show his talents in midfield whilst Adebola led the line well but his first half misses cost us badly.

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Tags: Games Lost, MOTM Guy Moussi

The improvement in the second half doesn’t mask the fact that we still look very weak on our travels and have done for a number of weeks now. Despite showing how capable we are going forwards at home, we display very little attacking intent away from the City Ground. Too often we let the opposition dictate the pattern of the game and we struggle to get going until it’s too late.

Following the West Brom game, we get very little time on the ball in midfield with teams adopting a more physical approach to prevent us passing through them. We have to adapt our approach away from home to stand up for ourselves and win the midfield battles on bobbly pitches that don't suit our natural style of play.

During the unbeaten run, we benefitted from a number of generous decisions but favours from referees have deserted us with, amongst other things, a number of recent penalty appeals being ignored.

Preston started the scoring as we were attacking with one of our own corners. The ball was cleared to the half-way line where we lost possession and found ourselves out-numbered down our right. Wallace beat Camp with ease with a calm low shot after a couple of simple passes opened up the defence.

The second arrived from a messy challenge from Cohen defending a corner. It looked like both players grappling with each other but the referee decided in their favour – Cohen really shouldn’t have got involved. Davidson hit the penalty down the middle to double the lead. Shortly after, it became three as we didn’t close down their players in midfield and James struck one from 25 yards out of nothing, straight into the top corner – Camp again with no chance.

There weren’t many to come through the first half with any credit. Boyd and Moussi won a few challenges in midfield but there was very little to get excited about. We looked a mess throughout. McGugan had our best chance with a long range curling effort that dipped narrowly wide. He paid the price for a laboured half and was replaced by Chambers – who became yet another stand-in left back for this season.

Boos followed the half-time whistle and there were plenty of travelling reds who didn’t bother coming back for the second half. Despite their three goal lead, there wasn’t much to fear from Preston and an early goal could make things interesting.

We got our first decision of the afternoon when Chambers lifted the ball over the top for Cohen to run into the area where he was brought down – Blackstock coolly converted the penalty.

From this point onwards, there was only one team in the game and Forest attacked at every opportunity. We started playing much more direct and got the ball forward quickly and with purpose. Blackstock suddenly had supporting players around him as finally McGoldrick and Cohen got into the game in an attacking sense.

Earnshaw joined the action and took advantage of Blackstock’s excellent control and pass to make a difficult chance look very easy. The remainder was all Forest but despite throwing everything at Preston we couldn’t find the equaliser. Having given the early penalty for our opener, the referee decided that one was enough for the afternoon and turned down a number of decent shouts.

Getting MOTM Cohen into midfield sparked the difference in performance and yet again illustrates the shambolic situation at a club without a recognised first team left back. His fight and energy turned what could have easily been another 5-0 Burnley defeat into nearly a valuable point.

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Tags: Games Lost, MOTM Chris Cohen

Despite injuries to Earnshaw, Wilson and McKenna we battled through to earn a massive three points which lifts us back into the automatic promotion places. Both sides had chances to win the game but it always looked like a draw was the most likely result. However, in injury time, Chambers arrived from nowhere to continue his rare ability to score vital goals for the club.

These three points set us up perfectly for the forthcoming trips to Preston and Barnsley. Two mid-table teams where we have a great chance to turn around our recent troubles on our travels.

The injury to McKenna is a massive concern as we approach a series of mid-week games. Whilst his recent performances haven’t maintained the early standards, his presence alone in the side justifies his inclusion.

Moussi certainly didn’t do enough to suggest that he’s a worthy replacement. Either a direct replacement or a left-back, enabling Cohen to return into midfield is essential to maintaining our current position.  With the large number of games approaching, it’s likely that some of the reserves will have to step up and make an impression on this season.

In an attacking sense, Swansea got plenty of men behind the ball and left Kuqi up front on his own with Pratley breaking from deep whenever possible. It’s not hard to see why they’ve struggled to score many goals this season and yet concede so few.  Pratley did look a class act with his ability to break into space from deep, hopefully we haven’t given up the chance for him and will return with an improved offer in the summer.

On this occasion, their chances came from our own defensive mistakes. Kuqi took advantage of Morgan’s hesitation which required Camp to save smartly from close range. Chambers, for no reason, presented the ball on the bye-line for Kuqi but Pratley couldn’t reach the pull-back.

They’ll still be complaining about a possible penalty decision against Cohen on Pratley. The contact was minimal and Pratley never really made the most of the opportunity and seemed more interested in falling to the ground. We suffered similarly at Doncaster and Coventry so it’s nice to see things evening themselves out.

At the other end, we created plenty of chances but too often we lacked composure in front of goal. McGugan and Majewski found themselves through on goal but their efforts barely troubled the keeper. Blackstock had a goal disallowed for offside whilst Boyd’s effort required an excellent save.

Both sides cancelled each other out for long spells and it looked like we’d have to settle for a useful point. However, late in injury time, McGugan whipped in a perfect corner, their keeper came out and missed, the ball almost hit Chambers and flew into the goal.

Camp didn’t have too much to do but made an important save from Kuqi in the first half to keep us level. A few dodgy moments from some bouncing back-passes but we got away with them.

We looked much more balanced defensively with Cohen replacing Perch at left back. This provided much better support for the midfield in front of him. He should have scored when Anderson skipped past their left back and laid it perfectly into his path. In the end, the volley ended up high and wide when a header might have been the best option. MOTM Gunter continues to show his obvious talents at both ends of the field. Never really troubled by their attacks and showed real pace when attacking on the break.

We missed Wilson’s presence in the centre of defence as both Morgan and Chambers showed moments of panic. With Swansea’s lack of numbers going forward, we got away with it but if they had shown more ambition going forwards we might have been in trouble.

Moussi often looked a mess in midfield, arms and legs all over the place. On the few occasions he won the ball, it wasn’t long til the ball was presented straight back to a white shirt. On one occasion, he even managed to tackle Cohen. McGugan did a reasonable job in midfield and was always capable of providing decent service to Anderson and Boyd. He certainly looked much better than recent appearances. He’s likely to have an increasing involvement in coming weeks due to McKenna’s injury.

Boyd looked a classy player on his debut and showed moments of real promise. He provided important width to compliment Anderson down the right. Looked very comfortable on the ball and linked up very well with the other forwards and created some really dangerous situations breaking forward. On the other side, Anderson looked much better on the right hand side and we’ve missed his combination with Gunter in recent weeks.

Majewski struggled to have any real impact on the game and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him rested in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully the arrival of Boyd will reduce the reliance on Majewski, to create something from nothing, that’s existed for long spells this season. Blackstock continues to work tirelessly up front and too often he lacked the necessary support around him.

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Tags: Games Won, MOTM Chris Gunter