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Forest will have the chance to blood no fewer than seven new signings (no, I’m not really counting the Fleetwood match), although one of Sam Hutchinson, Greg Halford and Daniel Ayala may have to be content with a place on the bench.

Halford played in midfield on Monday night, but Simon Gillett’s expected recovery from a knock means that he is likely to occupy the berth at the base of the midfield.

With Cox and Blackstock possibly forcing O’Driscoll into a 4-4-2 formation, and no natural wide man on the right, Forest could possibly revert to the diamond with which they experimented in pre-season:

Bristol City are likely to give debuts to ex-Reds Greg Cunningham and Paul Anderson, both of whom have apparently impressed in pre-season, and will have former Chelsea veteran Jody Morris pulling the strings in midfield.