Nottingham Forest will not be faced with an FA Cup replay in the third and fourth rounds of this season's competition after the Football Association took the 'exceptional decision' to remove them for this season's edition.
Steve Cooper 's side, alongside the other 43 Premier League and Championship sides enter in the third round of the tournament at the end of the first full week of 2022.
The Reds were drawn out of the hat against record 14-time winners Arsenal at the City Ground in a fixture that has been moved to the Sunday and is a 5:15pm kick-off due to it being shown live on ITV1.
Were the tie to be drawn at the end of 90 minutes then extra-time and potentially a penalty shootout would follow instead of returning to the Emirates some days later to attempt to find a winner in a following midweek.
"We can today confirm that replays have been removed in both the third and fourth rounds of the 2021-22 Emirates FA Cup," said the FA.
"This exceptional decision was approved by the FA Board on Friday 17 December and has been taken in the wider interest of English football to alleviate the possibility of fixture congestion following several postponements in recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to COVID-19.
"Ties in the third and fourth rounds of this season’s competition will be played to a finish on the day, with extra-time and penalty shootouts if required.
"Replays will return up to and including the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup from the 2022-23 season onwards."
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