Forest boss: we owe them one

‘We are at home and we owe them one for the 1-0 defeat down there, just before I officially took over.’

Steve Cotterill, speaking to the Nottingham Evening Post ahead of Saturday’s big relegation between his Forest side and Andy Thorn’s Coventry City, who went above their opponents in midweek with the last-gasp win over Leeds United.

Dismal away form has been the Sky Blues achilles heel so far this season but, having shown on Tuesday that they now have the kind of player in Alex Nimely who can genuinely worry opposing defences, they will surely not get a better chance than this to open their account on the road.

Problems on and off the field have led to an apparent shattering of confidence at the City Ground, something Cotterill acknowledged when speaking about the need for his side to make a quick start.

‘We need to make sure that we start the game well and the crowd stay with us,’ he told his club’s official website.