Nottingham Forest take on Leicester City in the 2nd round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday night. City will arrive in a confident mood, after their 4-1 home thrashing of Championship title contenders Watford. Forest on the other hand are left licking their wounds after going down to a late Leeds Utd winner on Saturday that saw them lose 2-1. The Reds as we all know are still looking for their first League win of the season, but can feel upbeat after a decent second half display against the Whites.
City manager Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Allen, is famous for doing some mad cap things in his time including diving in rivers before FA Cup ties whilst manager of Brentford. So don’t be too surprised if on your way to the ground you see someone taking a dip in the Trent. He’ll probably be too busy spending the vast wads of cash given to him by chairman Milan Mandaric anyway. Mad Dog has brought in no fewer than 14 new players since he took over in the summer. Despite his antics, he has assembled a decent side. City have managed to gazump Forest recently in the transfer market by nicking the likes of Cort, Fryatt and Clemence from under our noses, but we won’t hold that against them if we get through tomorrow night.
There has of course been some notable players to step out for both City and Forest over the years. Collymore, Parker, Campbell, Mills and Williams have all played for both sides. There have been some not so notable ones as well such as Rogers, Impey and Charles.
This is a game that has for some strange reason really got to the good folk of Leicester, as they have begged, stole and borrowed to get tickets for the game and have sold out their entire 5,300 allocation. I’m almost impressed. Forest will have to work hard to be in the hat for the 3rd round draw, that’s for sure.
Vital Quotes:
Nottingham Forest Team News:
It’s the usual suspects for the Reds, but they should be able to call on striker Nathan Tyson, who came on against Leeds as a second half substitute.Chris Cohen (groin), Matt Lockwood (ankle), Ian Breckin (calf), Lewis McGugan (ankle) and Arron Davies (ankle) are all still ruled out.
Player to watch: Nathan Tyson
If he plays from the start he’ll be the best threat Forest have to cause an upset. When he came on the pitch on Saturday he showed no signs of knee ligament injury that has sidelined him for four months.
Leicester City Team News:
No news from the Leicester camp yet.
Player to watch: Iain Hume.
The experienced frontman scored a cracker to open the floodgates against Watford at the weekend. The former Tranmere striker will need to be watched as he can pop up from no where and nick a goal.
Match Facts & Stats
The two sides have met 94 times in all competitions and the Reds have never lost a cup tie. Forest have won 36 and lost 35. 24 of the games have been draws.
