David McGoldrick may have played himself into Billy Davies' plans tonight after his midweek double against Burnley.

The Forest boss admitted yesterday he was ready to hand the 23-year-old a starting place following an impressive appearance off the bench.

'David is in my thoughts, without doubt,' said Davies. 'He scored two goals – that is what you want your strikers to do.

'I am delighted for him, because he has shown what he is capable of.

'He had a shoulder injury in the summer and these things do influence your performance levels during the season.

'Pre-season sets you up nicely for a successful season and he missed much of his.

'But there is no doubt he has ability. There is no doubt he can score goals. When he is at his best, he can be a real handful.'

Forest may have struggled for results – the midweek victory ended a nine-match winless run – but they haven't been short of goals, with five in the last four matches, and Davies has challenged his front men to maintain their form

'I am pleased because they are starting to score goals,' he said. 'They have started to chip in.

'But, without getting things right in the other areas of the pitch, strikers are not going to score goals.

'You have to look at the whole team. The balance can be affected by players being missing or players in certain areas not being right. That is why we still have a lot of work to do.

'If we are going to utilise the full potential of our strikers, then we have to have the right outside left and right outside right; we have to have the right central midfield players and we have to have a solid back four.'

With five games left to play, Davies is hesitant when it comes to setting his side a points target.

'I don't think we will be too far away if we can get 70 points,' he said.

'But it is honestly hard to say, because so much can still happen. 'It is a difficult call. But we're delighted with the fact that with five games remaining we're in the mix.'