Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest: tips, odds & betting preview

TV: Sky Sports Football, 12.30pm Friday

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder will be cursing the fact that his team have let two draws hinder their Sky Bet Championship promotion push and the bad news has kept on coming.

The Blades will be without Chris Basham and top goalscorer Billy Sharp for their clash against Nottingham Forest. A defeat would allow leaders Norwich the chance to book their return to the Premier League with a win against United's Steel City rivals Wednesday later on Good Friday.

Wilder's side have drawn with Birmingham and Millwall in their last two outings - the Lions gained a point with a goal from Jake Cooper five minutes into added time - and they had won eight straight matches at Bramall Lane before their 3-2 loss to Bristol City on March 30.

These are not the sort of issues Wilder would have wanted to address at this time of the season but some home fans will be confident with their team facing rivals who have little to play for.

Forest manager Martin O'Neill has given up on the playoffs after one win in their last six matches and he has failed to galvanise the squad with five wins in his 15 games in charge.

However, they still have the potential to make their presence felt and have performed well on the road against some of the second-tier challengers despite an indifferent overall record.

Draws have been earned at West Brom, Norwich, Derby, Aston Villa and Bristol City, and a victory at Middlesbrough, so they are capable of gaining positive results on the road.

They could threaten to score and United have to be positive in light of their position in the table, so there should be a few goals.

United have scored at least twice the last five times they have been without Sharp for a league game, so backing over 2.5 goals could be the way to go.

Recommendation
Over 2.5 goals
2pts 10-11 general

Team news
Sheffield United
Chris Basham and Billy Sharp are ruled out with hamstring injuries while John Egan is suspended.

Nottingham Forest
Tobias Figueiredo and Michael Dawson have returned to training and could be involved, but the match comes too early for Algerian striker Hilal Soudani.

Key stat
Nottingham Forest have taken just three points from their last nine Championship away matches.

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