Nottingham Forest have accepted an improved offer from Leicester City for defender Wes Morgan.

The 27-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, is believed to have requested permission to talk to the Foxes following two failed bids earlier in the month.

It is now thought that a bid of around £800,000 which could rise to £1m with clauses has been accepted.

He is expected to join them this week after having a medical and I for one wish him all the very best should he decide to go.

You'll never beat Wes Morgan.

Nottingham Forest chairman Frank Clark believes developing the youth academy will be the future for the club.

With Financial Fair Play looking to come into force as early as next season, the purse strings have been tightened by owner Nigel Doughty and it seems that the current crop of young players will be fed into the first-team allowing higher earners to leave.

Clark said: "Hopefully we can push two or three young players through from the academy in the near future,

"But that is going to be the future of the club, really. We have to bring our own players through the ranks."

Other changes are also set to be introduced soon regarding youth academies and funding from the Football Association and Forest are looking to build a strong enough academy to compete with the larger clubs.

He added: "With the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) – and there are more acronyms in football these days than ever before.

"When that comes in, we will have to look at where we are as well. We want to be going for a category two rating there, if we can, because that will put us in a strong position.

"Apart from very, very wealthy clubs, I don't think anyone will get grade one."

The future of football is changing and it looks as though the Reds will have to change as well.

Former Nottingham Forest striker Marlon Harewood is training with the club with a view to a free transfer when his contract runs out next month.

The 32-year-old has been playing in China with Guangzhou but will be looking to impress manager Steve Cotterill enough to earn a deal until the end of the season at the City Ground.

Harewood scored 51 goals in 88 appearances for the Reds before joining West Ham for around £500,000 in 2003. He has also had spells at Aston Villa and Blackpool in recent years.

Nottingham Forest striker Dexter Blackstock continued his recovery from injury by playing 67 minutes for the reserves in the Reds' 2-2 draw against Sheffield United.

David McGoldrick scored twice to rescue a point. 

Nottingham Forest have signed West Bromich Albion Striker Ishmael Miller for £1.2m.

The 24-year-old, who helped QPR win promotion during a loan move last season, could make his debut alongside fellow new signing Matt Derbyshire against Doncaster on Tuesday night.

Forest manager Steve McClaren said: "He's the type of player we want, he's young and ambitious and fits the criteria perfectly."

The former England U21 international's fee could rise depending on how successful the Reds are.

Nottingham Forest defender Luke Chambers is looking to secure his long term future at the City Ground by starting talks on a new contract with the club.

The 25-year-old, who was voted as player of the season last term, has been the subject of transfer interest from Cardiff City recently.

The former Northampton man said: "I don't want to leave. I love being in Nottingham and I love playing for Nottingham Forest.

"I have been linked with other clubs but that is not for me to think about. Unless something concrete happens, I am not going to concern myself with it.

"I am not looking to move, I am happy playing week in, week out for Forest.

"If I do my business on the pitch, I am sure things will work out when it comes to the contract situation."

Chambers is looking forward to challenging himself at a higher level and hopefully this will be in the Garibaldi Red.

He said: "Last year was a real success for me personally. I had a difficult few years prior to that,

"But I think I showed people last season that I can play in the centre and, in my opinion, that I can be one of the best central defenders in the Championship.

"That is what I want to prove and I want to prove myself at the next level.

"In the meantime, I do not let stuff like this influence my game, as long as I am playing. Whatever happens off the field will not distract me."

Chambers will have the perfect chance to test himself against top opposition when the Reds take on PSV at the City Ground tonight. The kick-off for the game is 7.45pm despite tickets stating the kick-off time is 7.30pm.

Swansea City were the victorious side in the Championship Play-offs, defeating Forest and Reading in enthralling matches.

However after a minute of there 1st leg semi-final at the City Ground, few would have predicted the Welsh outfit would have even made it to Wembley. An immediate red card for defender Neil Taylor gave the hosts the initiative to go on and take a solid lead to the Liberty Stadium - yet it was the visitors themselves who looked the more dangerous for the first 45 minutes of the tie. Forest improved after the break and Earnshaw had an effort correctly ruled out for offside, but Swansea held firm and took a goalless draw back to Wales. With home advantage for the 2nd leg, the Swans did make it count and despite an excellent Forest performance, particularly in the 2nd half once more, it was Swansea who marched on, thanks largely to 2 goals in 5 first half minutes from Dobbie and Britton. Earnshaw gave the East-Midlanders hope with 10 minutes left and as Forest laid seige onto De Vries goal, Earnshaw hit a post in a frantic finale. Pratley wrapped up a 3-1 win, with Camp at the wrong end of the pitch, leaving the goal unguarded.

In the other semi-final, Cardiff City, like Forest another beaten team from last seasons play-offs were beaten 3-0 by Reading.  Again the 1st leg ended deadlocked but the Royals hammered Dave Jones' men 3-0 in the vital 2nd leg. This proved to be Jones' last game in charge after sacked soon afterwards. Billy Davies would also suffer the same fate at Forest in mid-june.

86,581 packed Wembley for the showpiece final, and 2 more quickfire 1st half goals put Swansea firmly in control. Livewire Scott Sinclair converting a 21st minute penalty then a minute later he finished a slick move to tap home number 2. Dobbie added a 3rd just before halftime to seemingly put the game beyond the Royals. But Reading came out blazing in the 2nd half and pulled 2 back inside 15 minutes, Hunt and Mills finding the target. The game swung to either end after that until Sinclair completed his hat-trick on 80 minutes. After a foul inside the area, Sinclair once more tucked home from the spot. Swansea held on after that to take a 4-2 win and head into the Premierhip.

For the other 3 sides, Forest, Cardiff and Reading, another season in the Championship awaits, whilst they will be joined by big-guns West Ham and Birmingam. Blackpool, Brighton, Southampton and Peterborough United are the other newcomers.

COVENTRY CITY 1 FOREST 2

The Reds continued their impressive Championship form with a first ever win at Coventry's almost-empty Ricoh Arena. However things didn't go all to plan after sloppy defending gifted ex-prisoner Marlon King a tap-in to open the scoring midway through the 1st half. That lead didn't last long though, leading marksman Lewis McGugan firing another long range effort into the back of the net. 'Keeper Westwood, rated the best stopper outside the Premier League on BBC's late kick-off show the previous night, should have done much better as McGugan's well-hit shot was straight at the Sky Blues number 1. As Forest began to get their game together, they took the lead 9 minutes before the break. After good work by Tudgay, Moussi ran onto a pass, only to pull up injured but with home fans cheering at the Frenchmans obvious injury, he kept the ball in and his cross was smartly finished by the goal-short Earnshaw. Moussi was instantly replaced by McKenna and the Reds saw out the rest of the 1st half.

After the break, City went very direct at the visitors but with Chambers and Morgan so commanding in the air, Camp was rarely threatened. As the half wore on, the standard of football at times became dire. Forest began to look jaded and seemed happy to close out the game. In the end, the referees final whistle put everone out of their misery! Another excellent 3 points for Forest, which was well-earned once again, they just about deserved it after playing some decent football in the opening period. Moussi's injury seems worse than first feared, it looks as though the midfielder will be sidelined between 6 and 8 weeks - a big blow without doubt.

Some extremely late goals elsewhere meant Forest stay in a challenging 4th position and with a home tie against a Watford side who's own excellent run has come to a shuddering halt recently, the Trentsiders will be aiming for a 6th championship win on the bounce and in doing so maintain what is an extraordinary home run.

DERBY COUNTY 0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1

Forest finally overcame their Pride Park hoodoo after adding to poor Derby County's increasing problems. In a tight game of few chances, Forest always looked comfortable and controlled most of the 1st half, although it was the hosts who should have taken the lead after Morgan was too easily beaten by Addison who pulled the ball back for Porter but with the goal gaping, somehow Chambers managed to deflect the ball away. That proved to be the Reds only let-off and the Rams 1 golden chance. McGugan came closest for the visitors with a free-kick which was saved low-down by Bywater whilst Lynch was hauled down in the area only for referee Salisbury to not even consider a spot-kick. 

After the interval, Forest soon lost their way but the feeble hosts failed to put any serious pressure on the Forest goal. Porter completely missed an early header and Camp had a comfortable save to make from debutant Davies. However, after Earnshaw and Adebola both joined the action, Forest again found some flow and it was  former Ram Earnshaw who scored a brilliant 79th minute goal, latching onto an Anderson knock down to drill it home first time from just outside the area. Derby continued to offer no threat and the comedy substitutions of Savage and Commons, who days later signed for Celtic, entertained the capacity crowd much more than the Rams bland football. Even 5 minutes of stoppage time failed to spark the hosts and Moxey capped off a shocking home display with an equally dismal 2nd yellow card. Moussi and Tyson were honours even for the man-of-the-match award, both possibly having their finest game in a Red shirt.

"Forest finally win at Pride Park and in doing so, complete a memorable Derby double in the space of just 3 weeks!"

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 BRISTOL CITY 0

Bristol City were the latest team to try to break Forest's extraordinary home league record. Forest boss Davies warned his players of a potential banana skin, but City didnt appear to come to The City Ground with a gameplan to win the game, but simply to frustrate Forest as much and long as possible, and it was only once the 4th official displayed 4 minutes additional time to add-on that the visitors pushed men forward.

After a slightly disjointed first half, with Tudgay and inparticular a splendid McGugan free-kick testing former England 'keeper James in good saves. Straight after the break Chambers continued his own goalscoring exploits, heading home a Cohen free-kick, with a slight deflection off a defender seeing the ball cross the line in slow-motion. The game rather peterred out in the 2nd half, with little in terms of chances for either side. This was no classic but another valuable 3 points.

"The Reds may not have hit the heights of last seasons free-flowing football, but with 5 wins in a row and 7 wins and a draw in 8, Forest are THE form side at a time when it started to go wrong 12 months ago."

Next up for the Reds is an eye-catching FA Cup tie at West Ham. The Hammers have proved a good cup side this season but have been marooned in the bottom 3 all season. Forest have nothing to fear.