E.ON Spotlight: Forest vs Spurs

Nottingham Forest return to The City Ground on Wednesday evening, with Tottenham Hotspur the visitors on Trentside. Here, we take a look at everything you need to know about the two sides ahead of the fixture...

FIXTURE DETAILS

Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur
Carabao Cup third round
The City Ground
Wednesdy 9th November, 19:45 GMT

Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistant Referee: Edward Smart
Assistant Referee: Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Michael Salisbury

HEAD COACH'S VIEW

Head Coach Steve Cooper spoke to the media on Monday to look ahead to our fixture against the side from North London.

"We're looking forward to the game, it's another game at home and we're in the process of trying to become a team that can compete at the level we're playing at.

"You've got to have right mentality to do that as it's not something you can just turn on and off. You've got to have the right spirit and attitude, commit to the plan and style of play and take each game as it comes."

Supporters can view more from the pre-match press conference on Forest TV here.

TEAM NEWS

Giulian Biancone, Harry Toffolo, Moussa Niakhaté and Omar Richards remain absent, although Cooper did reveal that former Bayern Munich full-back Richards has started to train again as he continues to step up his return to fitness.

Tottenham are set to be without Hueng-min Son and Cristian Romero for the cup clash, with the pair currently sidelined with injury. Richarlison has returned to training this week and could be in contention.

Sweden international winger Dejan Kulusevski returned from injury to make his first appearnce for Spurs since September on Sunday, while former Red loanee Djed Spence could also feature.

LAST TIME OUT

We last faced Wednesday's opponents back in August as Harry Kane's double earned his Spurs side a 2-0 victory on Trentside as we met Tottenham for the first time in the Premier League since April 1999.

Our last League Cup tie against The Lilywhites came back in 2014, Jorge Grant giving The Reds a second half lead at White Hart Lane before goals from Ryan Mason, Roberto Soldado and that man Kane saw the home side progress.

RECENT FORM

Tottenham currently sit fourth in the Premier League table, losing narrowly 2-1 to Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Mo Salah gave The Merseysiders a 2-0 lead in the capital, while Kane's 70th minute goal wasn't quite enough to earn Spurs a share of the points.

France international goalkeeper Hugo Lloris skippers the side, with Kane the current top scorer with 12 goals in all competitions so far this season.

Forest come into this fixture off the back of a dramatic 2-2 against Brentford at The City Ground on Saturday. Morgan Gibbs-White's first goal in the Garibaldi gave The Reds the lead, only for Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa to strike to turn the game on its head.

Forest pushed for a late equaliser which duly came in the sixth minute of added time courtesy of Mathias Jørgensen's own goal.

PLAYED FOR BOTH: MICHAEL DAWSON

Dawson joined the Forest Academy back in 1997, progressing through the youth ranks before making his senior debut in April 2002. The defender made 121 appearances across two spells for the club before retiring in 2021.

Dawson joined Tottenham from The Reds in a deal which also included winger Andy Reid in January 2005, with the centre-back going on to make 324 appearances and became a firm fan favourite during his time at White Hart Lane.