Nottingham Forest's slump may have extended to eight winless games with defeat at Preston, but Dougie Freedman believes the visit of bitter rivals Derby this Friday is just the tonic his men need.
Forest fans, and indeed the under-fire Freedman himself, could be forgiven for wincing at the next opponent on their fixture list, with the Rams in the midst of a 10-match unbeaten run ahead of their trip to the City Ground.
In contrast, Forest's 1-0 loss to North End on Tuesday left them 16 points behind Paul Clement's side and winless since mid-September.
However, when asked about meeting Derby next, a confident Freedman replied: "Thank God! I really want this game to come along.
"I want it to be a big occasion, on Sky, I want to show everybody how well we're playing. Hopefully we can play as well as we did tonight and I'm very convinced we'll get the win.
"This is exactly what we need - we need these big occasions, we need to put in the spotlight and see who's up for this challenge.
"We cannot shy away from it. There's no use running away. The football club's being doing that for many years, running away from little problems. We are in a very, very difficult moment in terms of on and off the field and we've got to stick together and work through it. There's nothing else you can do.
"These players are fully committed to the cause. They just need a little break."
The visitors fell behind to Eoin Doyle's second-minute opener, his first for his on-loan club, and despite spurning a glut of first-half opportunities, Forest appeared to run out of ideas and fight against a spirited Preston defence in the second period.
Only four points separate them from the relegation zone, but a scrap for survival is not one their manager is considering.
"No, not at all," the Scot said.
"I've seen enough over six or seven games that we are in a very false position. I understand that everybody at the football club would be concerned but I'm certainly not from what I see.
"I knew it was going to be difficult, a tough season, it's proved that way. You're going to have difficult moments in a season and this is one. I don't see us anywhere near a relegation battle."
Preston recorded their fifth consecutive clean sheet, shutting out Forest after also keeping Cardiff, Charlton, Brighton and Bolton at bay as they also claimed their first home league win of the campaign.
"It's a fantastic achievement to get five clean sheets on the trot," said manager Simon Grayson.
"To do it in any league takes some doing but at this level with the players we've been against - there's a huge amount of credit to the lads, as individuals and as a team.
"Tonight was a night where we've not played anywhere near as well as we can do, or have done, against Ipswich, Wolves and Middlesbrough and not picked up three points. (The first home league win) is a monkey off our back."
Source: PA-WIRE
