Nottingham Forest made the long midweek trip to Suffolk to take on Ipswich Town in a re-arranged Championship fixture

With reports of dissension in the ranks at Portman Road, this appeared a great chance for the Reds to take maximum points and pull further away from the relegation zone. However, hopes of victory were once again reduced as several key players remained sidelined through injury.

Forest started the game very brightly with the home side on a number of occasions guilty of gifting the Reds possession in their own half. Wes Morgan saw a decent chance saved by Richard Wright in the Ipswich goal as the visitors failed to take full advantage of their host’s charity.

Having looked a sorry outfit in the early stages Town took the lead with their first real foray into Reds territory. A free kick from the left wreaked havoc in the Forest box and it was James Perch who stooped highest to divert the ball into his own net.

The goal set Forest back and the Reds were poor from here on in until the break. Town could have extended their lead before the break with better finishing although Ian Breckin did have a goal harshly ruled out for a foul on Wright.

Forest improved after half time and could have equalised when Matt Thornhill’s shot was turned away by Wright with Nathan Tyson unable to get on the end of the rebound.

Tyson by this point was pretty much being deployed as a loan striker bearing in mind the introduction of the absolutely hopeless Emile Sinclair who had been brought on at half time in place of Joe Garner.

With Forest unable to get back on terms Town began to dominate. The home side somehow failed to double their advantage when a scramble was eventually clawed away by a nervy Paul Smith.

Eventually home dominance paid off when David Wright’s soft effort squeezed in at Paul Smith's near post further infuriating the travelling support unhappy at the Reds keeper’s recent performances.

After Brendan Moloney’s excellent last ditch tackle denied Pablo Counago Forest improved in the later stages. Lewis McGugan saw an excellent shot from 20 yards turned over by Richard Wright but shortly after this Nathan Tyson fired home at the second attempt to reduce the arrears.

The away side pushed for an unlikely leveller against a nervy Town rearguard. McGugan who was having an excellent second half came within inches of rescuing a point for the Reds only for his scuffed shot to bounce off the inside of the post and to safety.

In the end the game petered out and the Reds were left to reflect on another defeat as that trap door begins to edge ever closer. Unless results improve quickly Forest could be set to enter the last quarter of the season in the relegation zone and in danger of an immediate return to the third division.

Forest: Smith, Moloney, Wilson (Lynch 62), Morgan, Thornhill (McCleary 71), Cohen, Perch, Breckin, McGugan, Tyson, Garner (Sinclair 46).