Sheffield Wednesday manager, Alan Irvine, is keen to see his side keep clocking up points in the Championship.

The Owls boss has been nominated for the Championship's Manager of the Month award after four wins from his first five matches, which have propelled Wednesday out of the bottom three.

Irvine was delighted to secure those wins but insists it is a recognition of work from everybody at the club and stresses that there is plenty more work ahead to secure safety.

"We have got 12 points out of a possible 15 but if you look at the table it still doesn't look all that comfortable," Irvine said. "We need an awful lot more points to make sure we remain a Championship team next season and until we get them the focus will be on reaching the target of 53 points.

"I am delighted to get four wins out of five, it's a fantastic start but the award nomination is a mark of the players working really hard and the staff behind the scenes working really hard and we're all going to have to do it over and again between now and the end of the season so that we can get to where we want to be.

The Owls next test is likely to be Irvine's toughest yet as SWFC boss, as he prepares to take on third-placed Nottingham Forest, who have lost just one match in their last 20, at the City Ground.

Irvine said: "I am fully aware of the threats Nottingham Forest have got. Billy Davies has had plenty of money to spend and he's spent it very wisely. He has put together a team with threats, not only in the starting eleven but coming off the bench they've got very strong, proven, Championship players who can give anyone a problem.

"Billy is a very good manager and a very good coach. He has tried to keep everyone at Forest level-headed but I think there is a real chance they could get automatic promotion this season."

As Irvine looks ahead to the Forest fixture, he has been hampered by the weather in Sheffield this week. A hard frost prevented use of the outdoor training facilities earlier in the week and snow provided the same problem on Thursday.

"The weather hasn't helped," the Owls boss admitted. "We trained in the dome on Thursday and we were in the dome on Tuesday as well. It limits what you can do from a tactical point of view. I am hoping we will be able to get on grass on Friday because if we can't we'll have to see what we can do in terms of using the facilities we have to prepare for Saturday's match."

Irvine will also have at least one change to make to his team following the news that Lewis Buxton could be out for three to four weeks with a hamstring problem, sustained in Saturday's win over Plymouth Argyle. The manager his hoping that Frank Simek will come to the fore in Buxton's absence.

"Lewis Buxton has a problem with his hamstring and he will be out for a few weeks so he will be missing. Franny Jeffers came off early in the reserves game this week with a hamstring problem and he will be scanned today to evaluate that.

"Frank has got a very strong chance to stake his claim in the team now. When players get in the team it is up to them to grab that chance. He has had a lot of injuries and that's a real shame because it was not that long ago that people were watching Frank from the Premiership and thinking about him as a player who would make that step. There's no question that he is a good player, it's just about how ready he is to step up to the first team, but he is a very good professional and I expect he will be able to come in and do very well."