Nottingham Forest’s reward for their 1-0 win over Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup first round is a mouth-watering second round tie with arch-rivals Derby County.
Just as they did a year ago, the Reds battled past lower league opposition at the City Ground to secure their safe passage through to the second round, their eighth appearance in this stage in the last nine years - and what a tie to look forward to.
The four-time League Cup winners had to be patient under the City Ground lights in a game of few chances, but it was Sabri Lamouchi’s men who took the lead just shy of the hour with what proved to be the decisive goal.
Debutant John Bostock played in Portuguese playmaker Tiago Silva and with plenty of work still to do, he smashed the ball into the roof of Alex Cairns’ net.
Fleetwood were not without their own chances with the Reds needing another debutant, Brice Samba, making a couple of good saves to keep Joey Barton’s men out as they tried to take the game to penalties.
Lamouchi's Reds were joined in the hat for the second round by the 13 Premier League sides not involved in European competitions, alongside Championship duo Cardiff City and Fulham.
Among those entering the draw are Leicester City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United, with the seven remaining top-flight clubs beginning their involvement from the third round.
The second round draw will be regionalised into North and South sections, with fixtures scheduled to take place on the week commencing August 26th.
Forest's last meeting with Derby saw Yohan Benalouane strike after just 74 seconds to seal a 1-0 victory on Trentside at the end of February.
The Rams under Phillip Cocu were 1-0 winners at Scunthorpe United.
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