Johnson and Sonner have points to prove

Two former Burnley players are expected to line up for Nottingham Forest in a crucial First Division relegation match tonight hoping to push their former club closer to the drop.

Two former Burnley players are expected to line up for Nottingham Forest in a crucial First Division relegation match tonight hoping to push their former club closer to the drop.

David Johnson resurrected his career during a loan spell at Turf Moor two years ago when he arrived in East Lancashire following an expensive move to Forest. Since then he has been a revelation at the City Ground and Forest will hope he can once again use Burnley to revive his career after a serious leg injury has kept him out for the past six months.

Danny Sonner is also expected to feature after recovering from injury to play in the win over Crystal Palace at the weekend. The Northern Ireland international has a point to prove to the Clarets after being released into the obscurity of German lower division football by Burnley 11 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Burnley manager, Stan Ternent, has asked for a major improvement from his players, who are just two points above the relegation zone. "We now have 10 games left and we need to get four wins in that time," he said. "There's 30 points to play for and I'm sure we'll get out of it. It's no good crying over spilt milk now, we have to move on and prepare for the next game against Forest."

West Ham United's push for automatic promotion was effectively ended by their weekend defeat at Sunderland but Alan Pardew's side have the chance to maintain their position in the play-off zone when Crewe visit tonight. And the Crewe manager, Dario Gradi, believes the Hammers are good enough to bounce back into the Premiership at the first attempt.

"I expect them to go up this season because they have some very good players and are best equipped to cope with a return to the Premier League," he said. Gradi is, nevertheless, hoping for a good result after his side took four points from their previous two away games.

He added: "We will attack as much as we can and our recent results at Derby and Wigan will give us more confidence."

Elsewhere, Coventry entertain Preston with both sides desperate for a win to keep alive their play-off hopes.