Sabri Lamouchi may have given his closest indication yet as to his thinking ahead of the Championship curtain raiser a week tomorrow.
The Nottingham Forest head coach opted to make just one change to his starting XI which overcame Premier League outfit Crystal Palace against Real Sociedad this evening.
Michael Dawson was the man drafted into the heart of the back four alongside Joe Worrall, with Swedish defender Alex Milosevic making way.
Dawson was also handed the captain’s armband for the night.
Elsewhere, Lamouchi opted to keep faith with the other 10 players which performed well a week ago.
Sociedad, who finished ninth in La Liga last term, including doing the double over Real Madrid, will likely provide Forest with a stern test in their final outing of pre-season,
It’s the last chance Lamouchi will get to look at his side in public before next Saturday’s Championship opener against West Brom here on Trentside.
One notable absentee from the matchday squad was Ben Osborn, who completed his move to Sheffield United earlier in the day.
There was no place in the squad for Tobias Figueiredo, with Toby Edser coming in, while Costel Pantilimon was again missing.
Forest (4-3-3): Muric, Cash, Worrall, Dawson (c), Robinson, Watson, Semedo, Silva, Adomah, Lolley, Grabban. Subs: Smith, Darikwa, Milosevic, Ribeiro, Yacob, Johnson, Ameobi, Appiah, Walker, Edser, Richardson, Steele.
Referee: Jez Simpson
This is how Sociedad look for the game...
