NOTTINGHAM Forest want to deliver a "big message" to the rest of the Championship – by beating leaders Cardiff City on their own turf tomorrow.
Striker Simon Cox wants the Reds to prove they are "up for the fight" as the promotion races reaches a nail-biting finale.
And he believes there is no better way of demonstrating they mean business than by becoming just the third team to win in South Wales.
Cox admits Forest have been disappointed with three consecutive draws, even if they have extended their unbeaten run under Billy Davies to ten games.
But he is in bullish mood ahead of facing Cardiff.
"If we go to there and get three points, it will send out a big message to the teams around us," he said.
"It will tell them 'do you know what? We are up for the fight here'.
"We do not want to put ourselves in a good position and then fade away and have another season where we end up saying 'Oh well, never mind'.
"We want to show people that we have the fight in us, that we are going to win the big games.
"We want to go as far as we can."
Cox, primarily, wants to see Forest get back to their best against the Red Dragons.
"Over the last three games, as a team and as a squad, we are disappointed with what we have accumulated, points wise," he said.
"I think we felt that we were better than that – during the time when the manager has been here, we have been better than that.
"We need to get back to winning games. Draws are not enough for us at the minute.
"Tomorrow will be a tough one for us, then we go to Boro.
"I am hoping that we can come out of that spell with a good amount of points."
Manager Davies has stated he believes two or three wins will be required from the final five games, if Forest are to secure a top-six finish.
"We are not going to go into games thinking 'we need two or three wins'. We need to just focus on this game and on how we can get a result from that," said Cox.
"If the manager thinks we need two or three wins, then that is what we will be looking to get."
