Nottingham Forest will be aiming to put some daylight between them and the Championship relegation zone on Friday when they face Cardiff City.

A run of six games without a victory by the Reds has allowed fellow strugglers Rotherham United to close the gap between the two sides to seven points.

Given that the Millers still have four games in hand over Forest, Chris Hughton's side know that they cannot afford to make a shaky start to the Easter period at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Whilst the Bluebirds head into this particular clash as favourites due to the fact that they are pushing for a play-off place in the second-tier, the Reds could clinch a positive result on their travels if they replicate the performance levels they illustrated against Brentford earlier this month.

Having earned his side a point in this particular clash by netting his first goal of the season, loanee Filip Krovinovic has now been linked with a permanent switch to Forest.

According to Portuguese outlet A Bola (as cited by Sport Witness), the Reds are reportedly interested in the possibility of signing the midfielder from Benfica.

Krovinovic, who is valued at £3.6m on Transfermarkt, has featured on 12 occasions for Forest since making a temporary move to the City Ground earlier this year.

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

Certainly no stranger to life in the Championship, Krovinovic has yet to replicate the level of performance that he produced during his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion last season in a Forest shirt.

Whilst the midfielder played a key role in the Baggies' promotion to the Premier League by providing seven direct goal contributions in the second-tier, it is clear that he is still adjusting to life with the Reds.

However, having recently recorded an impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.36 against Brentford in which he completed 92.5% of his pass attempts, Krovinovic will now be determined to use this display as a building block for the remainder of the campaign.

Providing that the midfielder can help Forest retain their second-tier status by scoring and creating goals in the coming weeks, Hughton ought to consider signing the midfielder on a permanent basis from Benfica as he is clearly capable of competing at this level.