City's Welsh international Andrew Crofts is looking forward to the green, green grass of home tonight.

Crofts and his fellow midfielders had to plough through the gluepot of Vicarage Road on Tuesday night, when any notion of a fluent passing game fell victim to Watford's ground-sharing agreement with the Saracens rugby club.

Carrow Road's playing surface is likely to be more akin to a bowling green in comparison for the big clash against Nottingham Forest.

'It was a boggy pitch,' said Crofts. 'The boys put in a lot of hard work. We are glad to get back to Carrow Road because as everyone knows we like playing good football and it probably allows us to do that a bit more. Even so I think we adapted to the conditions well the other night.

'Obviously it is harder work than it would be if the surface is good, but both teams play on it so it doesn't really matter what it is really. But Carrow Road and a lot of the other grounds are of good quality and we like to play our stuff.

'It was a point and looking at the second half we were probably unlucky not to get all three, but it's a point gained and we are looking forward to Friday night.'

Crofts has a voracious appetite for football and has started all but two Championship games this season – missing one through suspension and one through illness. But there's one fixture he wants to avoid next season – playing against old club Brighton, who were promoted to the Championship on the same night City were drawing at Watford. The remaining five games will decide whether City stay put, take their chance in the play-offs, or join football's elite.

For Crofts, it's a far cry from last summer when he became Paul Lambert's first signing as a Championship manager.

'I didn't really look that far ahead,' said the 26-year-old. 'When I joined I just wanted to cement my place and settle in as quickly as I could and I was lucky enough to do that. Looking back on it I think everybody would have taken where we are at the moment. It is a great achievement so far from where the club was 18 months ago – it has been unreal.'

Crofts' season at Brighton, where he was club captain under Gus Poyet, left him with happy memories of the south coast – and perhaps an expensive phone bill.

'I've sent a few texts out,' he said. 'I am over the moon for them. It's a great achievement for them and I think they will do well next year as well. They are a good footballing side and they are going to be a good club.'

Crofts knows that to avoid another Championship campaign, City will have to carry on where they left off at Watford where, after a sub-standard first half they powered their way back for a deserved point.

'I think we finished really strongly and we will be looking to do that from the start and setting a tempo and hopefully get three points,' he said.