Nottingham Forest are ready for a pivotal weekend in the Premier League’s survival battle.
Forest will go nine points clear of the relegation zone if they beat Leeds at Elland Road on Friday.
They are level on points with 16th placed Leeds with third bottom West Ham also travelling to second bottom Burnley, adding to potential drama on Saturday.
Forest have won their last two league away games, a dramatic and controversial late 2-1 at West Ham before an impressive 2-0 victory at Brentford.
Along with Sunday’s 1-1 draw with 10 men against Crystal Palace they have kept clear of the 18th-placed Hammers and boss Sean Dyche knows the importance of the weekend.
“There’s so much noise about football they [the players] don’t need me to keep reminding them about the games,” said the former Burnley and Everton manager.
“I have spoken endlessly about my mentality and what I’m trying to get into the players and I think they are absorbing it.
“Every game is big, every game we should go into believing we can win, every game we can be competitive in and if we play well we can win.
“We have shown really good signs of this. Tottenham, at Anfield. It’s not easy but this is the mentality I want.
“The noise can be the noise but you see through that with your pure mentality to deliver. We’re seeing signs of that getting there. If you can stay focused on the next game it brings that consistency.”
Leeds‘ record at Elland Road has kept them afloat in the relegation battle, losing just three of their 12 games.
Their last home game was a 4-0 thumping by Arsenal and other defeats have come to Aston Villa at Tottenham but they would be comfortably mid-table just going on their form at Elland Road.
“It doesn’t make you infallible or win every game,” said Dyche on Leeds‘ home form. “We’re coming up ready to play and with a commitment to win a game.
“We have shown that lately, at Brentford and West Ham, different for different reasons. There’s some really good signs of our mentality.”