25 min Lovely feet from Le Fee, who draws a foul from Milenkovic just outside the area. The free-kick is to the right of centre, with Xhaka and Le Fee are over the ball…

24 min A heavy touch from Williams jiggers another promising Forest move. They’re having an excellent spell.

23 min As it stands, Forest are (almost certainly) staying up.

22 min Wood, released by an excellent pass from Anderson, runs at a static Sunderland defence and forces a left-foot shot from the edge of the area that is pushed away by Roefs. The shot was too close to him.

19 min At the other end, Sadiki makes room for a shot that is well blocked.

Igor Jesus wheeled away in celebration but replays show it was an own goal from Trai Hume. Omari Hutchinson took a short corner on the right, got it back and curled a booming cross beyond the far post. Igor Jesus met it near the byline with a header across goal that hit the back of Trai Hume’s head and flew into the net. Roefs had no chance.

15 min What a run from Dan Ballard! He was starting to make his way back following a Sunderland corner when he spotted the chance to muscle Anderson off the ball 25 yards from goal. Then he slipped past Aina in the area, resisted Aina’s recovery tackle and screwed a low ball that ran right across the face of goal. All hail Dan Beckenballard.

13 min: Good save by Roefs! Alderete plays a poor pass out of defence that goes straight to Igor Jesus. He finds Hutchinson, whose whipped shot from the edge of the area is pushed away by the diving Roefs. It’s a good save but Hutchinson’s shot wasn’t right in the corner.

11 min Anderson’s dangerous cross is shanked behind for a corner by Hume. Nowt comes of it.

10 min Sadiki has had his hand bandaged and is back on the field.

9 min Sadiki has gone to the touchline for more treatment to his hand.

8 min: Chance for Rigg! Le Fee takes advantage of a ricochet to collect a loose ball and put Rigg through on goal to his right. He opens his body but sidefoots straight at Selz from 15 yards.

6 min Both sides have started pretty well, with the game being played at a nice pace.

At least it was being played a nice pace: there is currently a short break in play while Sadiki receives treatment. Sangare accidentally stood on his hand.

3 min A regrettable square pass from Sadiki, deep in his own half, is nicked by Hutchinson. Alderete makes an immportant challenge on the edge of the area and Anderson’s long-range shot deflects over the bar for a corner.

The corner is half cleared to Williams, who mishits a difficult volley well wide.

1 min Forest kick off from left to right as we watch. You can’t beat an evening match starting in daylight.

As usual, there’s a cracking atmosphere at the Stadium of Light. The players are ready for action. Shall we?

Regis Le Bris talks to Sky Sports

[On the 4-3 defeat at Villa] We tried to impose our ideas at Villa – it wasn’t easy because they have many good players – but we tried. It was a tight game and we had the opportunity to win it.

[On Sunderland’s European hopes] The most important thing is to win games. The first step is to be strong at home. The middle of the table is tight; if you don’t win, you can’t expect anything.

Vitor Pereira talks to Sky Sports

[On Forest’s excellent form] I think we’ve been more consistent mentally and tactically. We’ve had more time to work so the players know what we want better than before.

[On picking Igor Jesus and Chris Wood together] We need to score goals. They are two players who work a lot defensively, which means I can play both of them.

Sunderland are a strong team, especially at home – very competitive with quality. We need to treat this like a Champions League game.

“While no one expected Forest to maintain last season’s performance level, it was inconceivable that they would be flirting with relegation by May,” writes Krishnamoothy V. “Did Forest lose it when they parted with Nuno?”

I think they parted with Nuno because they’d lost it. But I really like Vitor Pereira and Forest have looked a top-half side since he took over.

The return fixture at the City Ground helped set the tone for both teams’ seasons.

Read Louise Taylor’s preview