Sean Dyche insisted that there is "still a lot of work to be done" at Nottingham Forest despite their encouraging form heading into Monday's trip to Fulham. 

Dyche has won seven of his 12 matches in all competitions since taking over at the City Ground in October following Ange Postecoglou's dismissal. 

And Forest's resounding 3-0 win over Tottenham last weekend saw them move five points clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League, with West Ham's defeat to Manchester City on Saturday ensuring that remains the case.

Despite this upturn since his arrival, which has seen Forest win four of their last five league matches, more than they had in their previous 18, Dyche does not want his side to get carried away.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Dyche said: "It has been a case of 'so far so good', but it is just a 'so far' and there is still a lot of work to be done.

"I keep reminding the players about that. They [Fulham] are missing some key players through AFCON, but they are still a good outfit.

“There are no easy games in the Premier League. "It is a very unforgiving league, and you've got to be right all the time."

Fulham, meanwhile, were involved in midweek action in the EFL Cup, losing 2-1 in their quarter-final clash with Newcastle United thanks to Lewis Miley's late header. 

But despite exiting the competition, Fulham boss Marco Silva turned his attention back to the Premier League, with the aim to build on last weekend's 3-2 win at Burnley. 

"We won at Burnley after two defeats," Silva told reporters. The reaction of the team was good.

"We got back-to-back away wins. Now we want to do our best to get back-to-back Premier League wins. It will be demanding. Let's hope we can end the year in a good way."

Rodrigo Muniz and Ryan Sessegnon are both ruled out for Monday's match, but Silva was positive that striker Raul Jimenez could feature.

"There's nothing to show that he won't be in contention," Silva added. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

Morgan Gibbs-White has scored four times in Dyche's opening six league games since taking over. 

He is just three goals away from matching his best season tally for Forest since joining the club in the summer of 2022.

Fulham – Harry Wilson

Harry Wilson has been involved in six goals in his last four Premier League games (three goals, three assists).

Overall, he's been involved in eight goals this season (five goals, three assists), his second most in a top-flight campaign after 2023-24 (10).

MATCH PREDICTION: FULHAM WIN

Fulham have a strong record against their upcoming opponents, having won five of their six Premier League games against Forest, including all three at home.

It is their highest win rate against any side they have faced more than twice in the competition (83%).

Worryingly for Forest, they have lost all three of their Premier League away games against Fulham by an aggregate score of 9-1. It's their worst 100% loss rate away from home against any opponent in the competition.

However, Silva's men have lost their last two home games at Craven Cottage with defeats to Manchester City and Crystal Palace, respectively. They have only lost three consecutive home games on one occasion since returning to the top-flight in August 2022, doing so between April and May of last season.

Forest have scored three or more goals in three of their eight Premier League games under Dyche, as many times as Everton did in their final 49 matches under him.

They lost their first Monday game following their return to the Premier League in 2022 (0-4 vs Leicester City) but are since unbeaten in their last seven on this day (W4 D3).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY 

Fulham – 44.4%

Draw – 26.8%

Nottingham Forest – 28.8%