After knocking out Premiership side Charlton in the third round of the FA Cup, Nottingham Forest now faces an even bigger task when they face Chelsea this Sunday. Forest currently sits third in League One, but only on goal difference. Scunthorpe leads the division with 52 points but second place Bristol City and Forest both have a game in hand.  Since overcoming Charlton 2-0 in the third round Forest has beaten Yeovil (1-0) and played to a scoreless draw with Swansea.

Given the current gulf that exists between the two sides the BBC had Sports Psychologist James Hamilton assesses how Forest should approach the match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Despite their current “poor” form in the Premiership, Chelsea is the bookies favourite to take the FA Cup for the first time under manager Josie Mourinho. Chelsea is running around 3/1, with Manchester United at 4/1 and Arsenal at 5/1.

 Under Mourinho Chelsea has lost to Newcastle in the 5th round (a 1-0 loss from an early Patrick Kluivert header) two seasons ago, and then went out to Liverpool in last year's semi final 2-1 at Old Trafford.

If you fancy a flutter on Nottingham Forest then the current odds of 300/1 make Forest one of the rank outsiders – 28th of 32 teams. (Bristol Rovers who have to travel to championship leaders Derby County are currently 1000/1).

Chelsea Football Club was formed 1905 and they didn't have to wait long until their first appearance in FA Cup final.  However, it took significantly longer before they lifted the trophy.  Here is a rundown of Chelsea's seven appearances in the final of football’s oldest competition.   

Chelsea's appearance in the final of 1915 was a major surprise for although they were to finish second bottom of the league Chelsea beat Everton in the semi-final.  Everton went on to become league champions that year. The First World War had been under way for eight months and a new venue for the final had to be found.

Crystal Palace in London had been home to the final for nearly 20 years but had been appropriated on account of the war effort.

The final was moved to Old Trafford in Manchester, a relatively new stadium at that time and Chelsea provided London with only its second finalist in the history of the tournament.  As coincidence would have it their 1915 opponents was Sheffield United who had lost to Tottenham after a replay in 1901.

This time Sheffield United took the trophy with a 3-0 win in a game that became known as “the Khaki final” due to the number of serviceman making up the crowd. It would be five years before another FA Cup would be held, but it would be a lot longer before Chelsea made another appearance in the final.

In 1967 London provided both finalists for the first time in the form of Chelsea and Tottenham. By this time Chelsea had developed a reputation as a strong cup team having made it to their third straight semi final. However, on the two previous occasions they had lost in the last four with both games being played at Villa Park in Birmingham. This time they made it to the final beating Leeds United 1-0.  The only goal of the game came from the head of Tony Hateley a recent signing from Liverpool. 

But there was no Wembley joy for the Chelsea fans again. Goals from former St Mirren winger Jimmy Robertson and utility player Frank Saul gave Spurs a two goal lead before Terry Venables pulled one back with only a few minutes left. However, three years Chelsea would be back at Wembley.  

The final of 1970 is regarded as an epic encounter for a number of reasons. The replay was needed for the first time since 1912, the Wembley pitch for the first game was dire leading to the replay being moved to Old Trafford, and both sides kicked lumps out of each other for over 200 minutes.

Wembley had bizarrely hosted the Horse of the Year Show only a few days before the final and the pitch was in disgraceful state by the time the two teams took to the "field". Leeds United twice led through goals from Jack Charlton and Mick Jones only to be pegged back by goals from Peter Housman and Ian Hutchison for Chelsea. Sadly both Chelsea scorers were to die relatively young – Houseman in a car crash seven years later and Hutchinson to a condition brought on by alcoholism in 2002.

The replay did not take place until eighteen days later and is clearly remembered by everyone who watched the televised midweek game. Mick Jones scored again for Leeds and the lead held up until 10 minutes left in normal time. Then a Peter Osgood flying header from a Charlie Cooke cross took the game to extra time. But as extra time ticked away another replay was looking to be the most likely outcome.

There was though to be a trick in the tail of this one. With only minutes left in extra time David Webb moved up from his centre back position to deflect home a Hutchinson long throw. During 210 minutes of action Chelsea led for only five minutes but still took their first FA Cup. Osgood had scored in every round of the cup (from the third on) and he remains the last player to accomplish such a feat.

AstonishinglyIn the replay not one player was booked. A couple of decades later David Elleray was asked to review the video tape of the replay and to apply contemporary standards of officiating. According the Elleray only eight players would have remained on the field at the end if modern standards had applied!! 

The 1970 competition also provided a bit of an oddity in that the FA decided that there would be a third place play off between the losing semi finalists Watford and Manchester United. The third place play off continued for another four seasons before being quietly buried before anyone took any real interest in it.

It would be another 24 years before Chelsea appeared again in a final.  However, their appearance in 1994 against Manchester United was to be the first in a run of four appearances in nine seasons - two of them successful. Chelsea squandered a number of chances in the first half, and four goals including two penalties from Eric Cantona in the final half hour of the match finally did Chelsea in. The win marked United’s first domestic league and cup double.

Anyone arriving late for the final three years later in 1997 would have missed the quickest goal ever recorded in FA Cup final history.  Roberto Di Matteo scored after only 43 seconds as Chelsea, led by Coach Ruud Gullit, beat Middlesbrough 2-0 who had been relegated from the Premiership only six days earlier.

Another three years on, and another FA Cup win for Chelsea in 2000.  Again the hero was Roberto Di Matteo who scored the only goal in the last final played at the old Wembley - and of course we have yet to see the new Wembley.

Although it had taken until 1967 for two London clubs to face each other in a FA Cup final a number of similar encounters followed soon after. West Ham vs. Fulham (1975), West Ham vs. Arsenal (1980), Tottenham vs. Queens Park Rangers (1982) ensued so when Arsenal and Chelsea faced each other in the 2002 final it was no longer considered a rarity.

The 2002 final at Millenium Stadium was evenly balanced until two goals in the last 20 minutes by Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljunberg gave Arsenal the trophy and their third domestic double.

The full fourth round draw can be found here and this is a link to the latest news from the official FA Cup website. The fourth round winners pocket around $120,000 in prize money and a place in the 5th round draw.

Past Featured Games
Extra Preliminary Round      Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A.    5-2     Billingham Synthonia.
Preliminary Round               Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A     5-4    Thackley F.C
First Qualifying Round         Fleetwood Town                      3-0     Jarrow Roofing Boldon C.A.
Second Qualifying Round    Fleetwood Town                     4-2     Goole AFC 
Third Qualifying Round       Fleetwood Town                      2-0     Warrington Town
Fourth Qualifying Round     Fleetwood Town                      2-0     Wisbech Town
First Round                          Salisbury City                          3-0     Fleetwood Town
Second Round                    Salisbury City                           1-1     Nottingham Forest
Second Round Replay        Nottingham Forest                    2-0     Salisbury City
Third Round                        Nottingham Forest                    2-0     Charlton   

 The Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest game can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports World Canada at 9:00 EST. on Sunday and you can check here for other FA Cup games that can be seen this weekend on FSC and FSWC.

Before we get going here's a piece from the BBC website on how to follow the World Cup at the office and to not get fired.

Ecuador opens the scoring with a well worked goal. The play breaks down on the edge of the Costa Rican penalty box but is played out to the Valencia who is free on the right side by Delgado. The midfielder plays in a gorgeous cross and one of the Tenorio brothers - Carlos - heads in from around six yards.

Now here is an interesting piece from the BBC. The story is authored by Andrew Jennings who famously wrote Lords of the Rings an investigation into IOC corruption. Jennings has just a published "Foul " that suggests that similar hanky-panky is also found within FIFA.

By the way half time - Mexico 1-1 Iran.