Huckerby proves timely signing for Hart

Having finally persuaded even Paul Hart, their cautious manager, to admit that they have genuine promotion credentials, the last thing Nottingham Forest needed was to lose their leading goalscorer for the best part of the run-in. Just as well, then, that Hart had already moved to reinforce his squad.

Darren Huckerby, on loan from Manchester City, will make his Forest debut at Watford this afternoon in place of the 24-goal David Johnson, who has undergone surgery on a torn posterior cruciate ligament and is expected to be out for at least six weeks.

The loss has forced Hart to change his plans. Instead of having scope to rotate Huckerby with Johnson and the in-form Marlon Harewood as Forest endeavour to cope with 11 matches during Johnson's projected absence, Hart must now hope luck spares him further serious setbacks.

At least Huckerby knows what it takes to win a place in the Premiership. While he may have slipped from the forefront of Kevin Keegan's thinking this season, the fleet-footed front man scored 26 times as City won the First Division title last year. What's more, at 26 years old he feels ready to prove himself in the city of his birth, having been overlooked as a hopeful youngster by Forest and their neighbours, Notts County, before launching his professional career at Lincoln.

"As soon as I knew Forest were interested, I wanted to join them," Huckerby told the club's official website. "They have given themselves a great chance and hopefully I can help them get into the Premier League." Although Hart lifted his ban on his players discussing promotion only after Forest's 6-0 thrashing of Stoke City last weekend, he had been reflecting on the possibility privately, timing the start of Huckerby's three-month loan so that it would cover the play-off matches should Forest be involved.

Watford, through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, held Wolves at Molineux in midweek but Forest will be disappointed not to return home with three points. Reading have climbed ahead of Hart's team with five consecutive wins and Forest are under pressure to keep pace.

The same applies to Wolves, who will see a win over Crystal Palace as essential, although equally important is the threat from beneath. Norwich lost ground by losing at Gillingham in midweek and it would suit the top six for Ipswich to win the East Anglian derby at Carrow Road tomorrow.

At the other end of the table, Brighton's achievement in escaping the bottom three may be undermined if they return empty-handed from Gillingham. Relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke and Grimsby are all at home.