McFarlane insists Chelsea is still attractive to managers

Calum McFarlane says he does not think he needs to "sell"the Chelsea manager job as he prepares to take charge of the Blues in the Premier League against Nottingham Forest.

McFarlane, who is back in interim charge following Liam Rosenior’s sacking last week, got Chelsea back to winning ways against Leeds United in the FA Cup, booking their place in the final.

However, focus now returns to the top-flight, where Chelsea have lost their last five games, all without scoring. The run that has seen them drop down the table to eighth, two points behind sixth-place Brighton, and 10 behind Aston Villa in the final Champions League place.

McFarlane insists Chelsea still hold the same draw they always have and has not ruled out a late surge back into the top five if they can turn their form around.

"I don’t think I have to sell that [the job] in all honesty. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world, great history of winning, we’ve got some of the best players in the world. You’ve got everything you could want," he said.

On the game against Forest, he added: "It will be a great honour to lead a game at Stamford Bridge. It might have a different feel leading the team.

"Hopefully, we can put in a similar level of performance that we did at Wembley. I am enjoying the challenge and pressure. We just have to keep winning our games [to qualify for the Champions League]."

Forest, meanwhile, have moved themselves five points clear of the relegation zone after back-to-back wins, including a thumping 5-0 victory over Sunderland in their last league game.

They also come into this match on the back of beating Aston Villa 1-0 in their Europa League semi-final first leg, providing another big confidence boost.

However, Vitor Pereira is quickly putting that victory out of his mind, with Forest still not quite out of danger in terms of the relegation battle.

"I will try to think just about the Chelsea game because it’s our Champions League," Pereira said.

"It’s very important for us. And we will try to go there to compete with the players. I prefer a fit player without injury problems, than someone that goes inside the pitch with problems, because with problems, we cannot give 100%, and in this moment, we need to run and fight."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chelsea – Enzo Fernandez

Enzo Fernandez comes into this game fresh off scoring the winner for Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final against Leeds last weekend.

In the Premier League this season, only Erling Haaland (27.6) has a higher expected goals (xG) sequence involvement than Fernandez (24.5), which measures the total xG value of unique open play shot or goal ending sequences a player is involved in.

Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

Morgan Gibbs-White’s 16 Premier League goal involvements are already his best return in a top-flight campaign (13 goals, three assists), beating his 15 in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Indeed, 12 of his 16 have come in 2026, with only Bruno Fernandes (15) recording more since the turn of the year.

MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

Chelsea are looking to complete the Premier League double over Forest for just the second time, after the 1998-99 campaign.

The Blues have won 1-0 and 3-0 in their last two league games against Forest – only between April and August 1966 have they won three in a row against the Tricky Trees.

But Forest have lost just two of their eight Premier League away games against Chelsea (W2 D4) and are unbeaten in all three visits to Stamford Bridge since their return to the competition in 2022 (W1 D2).

Chelsea have lost – and failed to score – in each of their last five Premier League games; they have not lost six in a row since November 1993, while they have never lost six in succession without scoring in their league history.

Forest are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games (W3 D3), without Brighton (16) collecting more points since the start of March than their 12.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Chelsea – 46.9%

Draw – 26.4%

Nottingham Forest – 26.7%