Normally you’d have me saying that Nottingham Forest need to beat Derby County at all costs.
Maybe I’m mellowing in my old age, but there’s a bigger picture to the season than this game on Tuesday night - and no, I'm not getting my excuses in early.
Look, it goes without saying that I sincerely hope Sabri Lamouchi enjoys a good night against the Rams and gets his side through to the Carabao Cup third round.
The bigger priority, however, is the Championship and the quest for points.
After a week which has seen Forest beat Birmingham and Fulham, along with a good point at Charlton, what happens on Saturday against Preston is of greater importance.
I’m not for a minute suggesting beating Derby isn’t vital, I just understand the significance of league points in trying to get promoted.
Make no mistake about it, Lamouchi will know what beating the Rams means to everyone, and what it would do for his relationship with the fans.
He'll be desperate to win this game.
I’d expect the Frenchman to make changes and plenty of them and with the size of Forest’s squad, they could pick a second team which should still have enough to beat the Rams.
Michael Dawson and Ben Watson have been superb so far this season, and both are key to any potential success this season, I would however, rest them both and bring in Tobias Figueiredo and John Bostock.
I wrote last week how impressed I’ve been with Bostock, and his introduction at Charlton seemed to coincide with a vastly improved display which saw Forest get a valuable point on the road.
That said, there’s no doubt about it that Forest should still have enough to overcome Derby.
They’re much weaker than last season when you consider they’ve lost Fikayo Tomori, Harry Wilson and Mason Mount – and you’d have to say, they’ve not been replaced with players of a similar calibre.
They'll not be much higher than mid-table this season I think, and that's being generous.
I’d like to be greedy, though.
Hopefully we'll thump Derby then on Saturday beat Preston before the international break and keep us well above them in the table.
Kenny Burns was this week in conversation with Barry Cooper
