West Ham and Nuno look doomed after Nottingham Forest leave them seven points adrift

Happy new year is an expression of irony rather than good cheer if you are a West Ham United supporter, and tonight’s fixture against Nottingham Forest could plunge them into ever darker depths of despondency.

The London club are four points adrift of Forest, the team above them just outside the relegation zone, after what Nuno Espirito Santo described as an “embarrassing” performance in defeat at his former club Wolves.

There is another reunion for Nuno this evening against Forest, who sacked him in September just a few months after he guided them to European qualification. Much like the departures of Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim in the last week, that decision was driven by internal politics as much as results. Speaking of which, John Percy reports that Edu, Forest’s global head of football, is coming under pressure amid the club’s turbulent season.

West Ham are quite fortunate that Forest have not pulled further clear of trouble. After an encouraging start under Sean Dyche, which included a 3-0 victory at Anfield, Forest lost four league games in a row over the festive period. Two of those matches were against Man City and Aston Villa, and by the end at Villa Park Dyche’s substitutions were made with an eye on this game.

Being the away team could be an advantage tonight, with an expectation of empty seats at the London Stadium which is hardly La Bombonera at the best of times. Worse than mutiny, apathy is the general mood.

West Ham fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that Lucas Paquetá is passed fit to start, while Forest hope to welcome back Callum Hudson-Odoi. There is more quality in the Forest side – Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White should really steamroll West Ham’s midfield – but the question mark over Dyche’s team is whether than show requisite ambition.

Full team news on the way shortly.