AFTER returning from Selhurst Park and Pride Park with a respectable haul of four points, there is a spring in the step of the players at Nottingham Forest.

But, while he may bound into the room with a confident smile spread across his face, James Perch also has a warning.

Today, Birmingham City stand between Forest and their hopes of extending their unbeaten run to three matches and, more significantly, further banishing the memory of a run of 11 games without a win to the further recesses of their minds.

But, while the victory over Crystal Palace and the hard-earned point in the East Midlands derby may have created a positive mood at the City Ground, Perch warns that it will not last long if Forest slip up against high-flying Birmingham.

"We have been feeling very bubbly, very positive since the last two games," said Perch. "The win at Palace gave us some momentum going into the game at Derby and to get a point there was good. We wanted to win, but we would have taken a point beforehand.

"That has put us in good stead for today's game against Birmingham.

"But you also go into every game thinking that you need to win to keep pace with the others.

"We know if we lose the gap could increase. There is a different kind of pressure to being at the bottom than being at the top.

"It feels like you can't afford to lose a match. We know we have to keep picking up points to get ourselves out of the bottom three."

After today, with the exception of Sheffield United, Forest have a run of games, stretching to Christmas, against sides in the mid to lower reaches of the Championship table.

But, if anything, Perch believes that increases the pressure on Forest, rather than eases it.

"The teams down there are still good teams," he said. "If we beat them we get closer to them and, if we lose, we move further away from safety.

"In a way, it almost puts more pressure on us.

"But it is a good thing that we are playing Birmingham now, because the expectation is with them. If we can go under the radar and beat teams like this, when people perhaps don't expect us to, it will do us good.

"Confidence is higher, the last couple of results have helped after the run we had been on.

"In recent games we have learned that you don't always have to play football to win matches, you also have to defend, to fight, to battle and scrap.

"If you work hard first, then you can play football and hopefully come away with the points."

Having witnessed a bizarre refereeing performance from Stuart Attwell at Pride Park, Perch admits to feeling that Forest have not had the rub of the green from match officials this season.

But he says he has no problem with the fact that assistant referee Nigel Bannister – who, along with Attwell, allowed the 'phantom' goal to stand for Reading at Watford – will be running the line today.

Bannister served a six-week lay-off as 'punishment' for the Vicarage Road confusion.

But Perch said: "We don't worry about linesmen really, because they don't have so much of an impact on games.

"If you hear that you have a certain referee you might get concerned, just from past experience of them before. To be frank, you sometimes think 'oh no not him'.

"We have not had good luck with refs, I think they have cost us a few points this season, with some of their decisions.

"But you don't really notice them, generally speaking. On Sunday we did though, because he was particularly poor.

"We have given away four penalties already this season and I still believe one or two of them were not penalties.

"It is all very well having this 'respect' campaign, but it is hard to respect referees when they are getting decisions wrong.

"We just have to hope things balance out over the course of the season."

And, in the meantime, Perch will be hoping to help ensure that, come 5pm today, the mood of optimism remains.