Tuesday's defeat at Reading continued Forest's freefall down the Championship table in the wake of Dougie Freedman's departure as manager.
Amid talk of Steve Cotterill being seen in conversation with owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi, interim manager Paul Williams must somehow get his squad over the line for another season of second-tier football.
The situation could have been worse had MK Dons not surrendered the lead against Wolves on Tuesday, the Molineux men earning a 2-1 victory that keeps the Dons nine points behind the Reds.
Milton Keynes host the side directly above them in the table, Rotherham United, on Saturday and a win for the home team would put them just six behind Forest ahead of Brighton's televised visit to the City Ground.
Football wisdom often states that one club will fall from nowhere into the relegation zone and a scan of the fixture list does show a final-day trip for the Reds to stadium:mk for a match that hopefully does not have too much riding on it for the visitors.