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"The last thing we want is to go into the play-offs with a negative mood about the place. I know I am positive about the position we are in, because we could be fighting it out at the other end of the table. But we have a chance in the play-offs and that would be a fantastic route to get promotion. The play-offs would not be the end of the world.
"Our automatic promotion hopes look to have gone but what we need to do is to put together a run of results. If Doncaster and Carlisle do start to slip up, who knows? We need to put the pressure on them if they do get a few bad results. And, if not, we can get the results to secure our play-off place and then go into them on the back of a good run.
"I can't comment too much about what happened last season in the play-offs, because I was not involved. But I know I would love to play in them this season. We need to prove that we are better than we were at Doncaster. But if we can go to Carlisle and get a result, it might make people take a look at us again. We also have that record against the top sides which we need to put right, which we can do tonight.
"We are better than we suggested at Doncaster. But even then we could have come away with a point. Confidence is still good. We know the gaffer (Colin Calderwood) is getting some stick, but we can still win promotion and it would be nice if everyone could be positive between now and the summer."
In team news for Forest tonight, creative midfielder Kris Commons finally seems to have lost his battle to be fit for the game. The former Stoke schemer has been suffering with a thigh injury for a couple of weeks now and is set to go for a scan on the problem this week.
Also out are versatile defender-cum-midfielder James Perch, who is serving the last match of a three-game suspension, and pacey winger Arron Davies, the Welsh international currently being sidelined with a hamstring injury. In better news for Forest boss Colin Calderwood though, experienced striker Brett Ormerod has been passed fit to play after suffering an accidental kick to the face in last Friday's 1-0 defeat at Doncaster.
In a late change the referee for this evening's match is Mark Halsey from Bolton, instead of Mike Riley from Leeds, and he will be assisted down the lines by Andrew Butler from Wigan and Jeremy Simpson from Carnforth. Meanwhile the fourth official is Mike Oliver from Ashington.