Nottingham Forest will be aiming to get back to winning ways in the Championship this weekend when they face Brentford.

After being held to a 1-1 draw last Saturday in their clash with Reading, the Reds suffered their seventh home defeat of the season on Wednesday at the hands of league leaders Norwich City.

Currently 18th in the second-tier, Forest could extend the gap between them and the relegation zone to 12 points by securing a victory at the Brentford Community Stadium.

However, when you consider that the Reds have failed to win any of their last six league games, they could be in for a tough afternoon against a Bees side who are pushing for a top-six finish under the guidance of Thomas Frank.

Whilst Forest manager Chris Hughton will be focused on helping his side avoid the drop in the coming months, he could be about to wave goodbye to one of the club's outcasts this summer.

According to The Athletic (as cited by The 72), Reds defender Michael Hefele is not expected to be offered a new deal by the Reds when is his existing contract expires this summer.

Since joining Forest from Huddersfield Town in 2018, the 30-year-old has only made 18 appearances for the club in all competitions and is yet to feature this season in the Championship.

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

When you consider that Hefele hasn't played a competitive game for Forest since suffering an Achilles injury in January 2019, it could be argued that both parties will benefit from his exit this summer.

Currently behind the likes of Joe Worrall, Scott McKenna, Tobias Figueiredo and Loic Mbe Soh in the pecking order at the City Ground, the defender has been starved of first-team action this season and thus a move to a team who will play him week-in, week-out could be exactly what he needs at this stage of his career.

For Forest's sake, releasing Hefele makes sense as it will free up some funds for Hughton who could draft in an individual who is capable of delivering the goods on a consistent basis in the Championship.

Providing that the Reds boss is able to get his recruitment spot on this summer, there is no reason why he cannot help the Reds push on next season.