May Day Bank Holiday Monday suggests summer is just round the corner as well as heralding the business end of the football season.

Clubs with little to compete for are often accused of being ‘on the beach’ but the FA Cup finalists and Europa League semi-finalists still have plenty to fight for in the league.

After handling three games in charge on the road, including last weekend’s excellent semi-final victory over Leeds, caretaker Calum McFarlane will manage a senior Blues side at the Bridge for the first time.

The former assistant manager is now tasked with overturning Chelsea’s five-league match losing streak without troubling the scorekeepers – three of them on home soil.

However, we are unbeaten against the Reds in the past four encounters (winning three) and have lost only once to them across all competitions since the late Nineties.

The reverse fixture in October ended 3-0 with second-half goals from Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and Reece James.

Forest are unbeaten in nine games on all fronts following Thursday’s Europa League success at home to Aston Villa, but the timing of this domestic trip is tricky with the decisive second leg at Villa Park in just three days’ time.

Chelsea had a clear week and by coincidence will have another say on whether the East Midlands club survive the drop further down the line – fellow strugglers Tottenham will be the final visitors to the Bridge on Tuesday 19 May.

Meanwhile the Blues are also aiming to complete a Premier League double over Forest for only the second time.

Team news

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, McFarlane hinted James and Levi Colwill could return to the matchday squad.

The Cobham graduates have been sidelined with injuries – Colwill with a knee problem that has kept him out since pre-season, while James in more recent weeks with a hamstring issue.

Whether the duo will be fit to feature remains to be seen, but McFarlane delivered a positive update on both players.

‘Reece is back in training, and Levi is back in training also,’ McFarlane stated.

‘Both are looking good, which is really positive. We’re still a little way out from the game [on Monday], so we’ll see how they do in the next few training sessions but are looking promising.

‘There are still a lot of games still to play, and we don't want to push too much, so we're just taking it day by day and, hopefully, they come through okay.

'Levi has had a long injury and we don’t want to push him too much. But both are looking good and potentially they could be [in the squad vs Forest], yes.’

Chelsea’s May Day history

The first Monday of May is a day off for most working people in the UK but the professional game stops for no one.

Labour Day has its roots in ancient feasts and rituals, mischief and mob football epics between villages.

The May Day Bank Holiday only became an annual official holiday on 1 May 1978 and the match has been part of the long weekend ever since.

On May Day afternoon 1985, Sheffield Wednesday were visitors to Stamford Bridge in the old Division One. John Neal’s mid-Eighties Chelsea side had the hex over the Owls, having pipped them to the Division Two title during the promotion run and dramatically eliminated the Yorkshiremen from the League Cup.

On 6 May 1985, Wednesday were edged by a late winner as Kerry Dixon latched onto Paul Canoville’s pass to round goalie Martin Hodge for his 35th of the season. Earlier on, the striker’s powerful header had levelled at 1-1 after masterful work from winger Pat Nevin.

The Blues’ May Day the following year was more like an SOS when John Barnes and Watford beat the Blues 5-1 at home.

Two years later the 1988 Bank Holiday Monday was another washout at West Ham – the Irons winning the deadbeats’ derby 4-1 to end their relegation fears.

Liam Rosenior’s father Leroy scored twice and was sent off, while Colin West’s late notch was no consolation to the west Londoners – who still needed points to survive.

The following season the Londoners were back to winning ways at home to Stoke. With his team having secured promotion back to Division One after a single season below stairs, Bobby Campbell handed Netherlands defender Ken Monkou his debut.

The Potters took the lead but the classic combo that season of a Graham Roberts penalty and Dixon winner turned things round for a 2-1 victory for the Division Two champions.

On May Day 2008 at Newcastle, the focus of Avram Grant’s side might have been on Moscow where an imminent Champions League final against Man United awaited. Yet Michael Ballack and Florent Malouda netted after the break against the mid-table hosts to secure a 2-0 win and runners-up position in the league.

Saving the best to last, May Day 2016 was the setting for the famous Battle of the Bridge against Tottenham. This crucial derby would decide whether Spurs or Leicester, managed by ex-Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri, donned the Premier League crown.

At the mid-point the Bridge was aghast at the Lilywhites’ comfortable 2-0 lead but a different Blues team emerged from the tunnel for the second half. Just before the hour mark Gary Cahill thrashed one in after Willian’s corner and momentum shifted decisively.

A febrile atmosphere pushed some Spurs players over the edge – with a bad challenge by Danny Rose prompting a multi-player brawl and Mousa Dembele stamping on Cesc Fabregas then clawing Diego Costa’s eye.

The crowd’s final tumult, though, was reserved for one of the best-received equalisers in the history of the Bridge.

Eden Hazard set aside his own disappointing season by exchanging passes with Diego Costa and curling an unstoppable shot into the top corner, Tottenham’s players sinking to their knees at the Belgian maestro’s epic coup de grace.

Know this…

Since Vitor Pereira took over at Nottingham Forest no team has scored more league goals than their 16 – of which Morgan Gibbs-White has accounted for seven.

The Blues’ 3-0 league victory in October was Ange Postecoglu’s last game in charge at the City Ground.

Enzo Fernandez’s xG involvement tally (xG plus xA) of 24.5 this season is second only to that of Erling Haaland (27.6) in the Premier League.

Only West Ham (15) have conceded more league goals from corners than Chelsea (11) this season.

A third successive league victory over the East Midlanders would match the Blues’ 1-0, 2-1 and 2-1 wins between April and August 1966.

We have completed a top-flight double over the Reds in four previous seasons – 1958/59, 1963/64, 1965/66 and 1998/99.

Chelsea have won 11 of our 13 Premier League games played on a Monday (D1 L1) since 2020/21 – winning the past six in a row at the Bridge.

The Blues have reached our 17th FA Cup final – more than any club except Man United (22) and Arsenal (21) – and sixth in ten seasons.

On Friday 4 May 1984, BBC’s Match Of The Day Live featured a Division Two match for the first time – the battle between hosts Manchester City and already-promoted Chelsea, the Londoners scoring twice in six minutes to win 2-0.