Forest U23s: Andy Reid's season preview

Nottingham Forest Under 23s begin their highly anticapted Premier League 2 campaign this evening away at Aston Villa Under 23s.

The Forest Academy were awarded Category One status earlier this summer, meaning the young Reds will be competing in the elite tier of U23 domestic football for the very first time.

The fixture will be played at Villa's Bodymoor Heath Training Ground this evening (kick-off 7pm).

Head Coach Andy Reid says he and his side are ready for the challenges ahead: "I can't wait to get the season started," he said.

"A lot of hard work from a lot of people has gone in behind the scenes to make the Category One status happen and it's been fully deserved.

"We want to put our best foot forward and the players have a good mix of excitement and wanting to go our there and compete.

"This is what we've wanted and now our standards need to go up. We've had a lot of success which has been great, but we don't want to stand still.

"It's going to be tough but the sky is the limit for us, we're going to play on the front foot and hopefully give a really good account of ourselves."

You can watch more from Andy Reid here.

Unfortunately, tonight's game will not be live streamed. However, streaming details for future Forest U23 home games will be announced in due course.

Dave Rogers appointed as Under 23s assistant coach

Andy Reid also confirmed the appointment of his new assistant and former Liverpool Academy coach, Dave Rogers.

On the appointment, he said: "It's great to have Dave with us and he brings a wealth of experience.

"Since Chris Cohen left it's a role we've been looking to fill and Dave has worked all around the world with the Liverpool Academy and was most recently the manager of FC Arizona in the United States.

"I did my coaching badges with him so I know the type of character that he is and I know how valuable he's going to be to the coaching set-up here."

Goalkeeper Joe Watkins joins Forest U23s

Furthemore, Nottingham Forest Under 23s are delighted to welcome goalkeeper Joe Watkins to the club.

Watkins joins from his hometown team Charlton Athletic and adds strength to the goalkeeper department which includes Jordan Wright and fellow summer arrival, Nicky Hogarth.

Forest 23s Goalkeeper Coach Adam Skinner says he's excited by the new arrival:

"Joe has an excellent desire to improve and we're delighted to have him with us," he said.

"He provides us with strong competition in the goalkeeping department and he's still young so has plenty of development time ahead of him.

Watkins says he's raring for the season to start having checked in Trentside:

"I'm absolutely delighted to be here," said Joe.

"This is my first time moving away from home but I'm excited to be here and can't wait to concentrate on my football.

"This season is going to be a challenging but exciting one and we're ready to test ourselves against some of the best young sides in the country."