Derby County manager Phillip Cocu has sent a message to Nottingham Forest ahead of their crunch clash in the Sky Bet Championship this weekend.
The Reds welcome their bitter rivals to the City Ground in the first league encounter of the East Midlands derby this season.
Forest already have fond memories of facing the Rams this season, after securing a comprehensive 3-0 victory at the City Ground in August in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
That match saw Albert Adomah, Joe Lolley and Joao Carvalho get on the scoresheet for the Reds.
The last league meeting between the two sides also ended in Forest’s favour, as an early goal from Yohan Benalouane saw the Reds claim a 1-0 win in at the City Ground in February.
Forest’s recent record against the arch enemies makes good reading, with their last defeat coming in October 2017, which means the Reds are unbeaten in their last four meetings.
A lot of the talk after Forest’s cup win over Derby in August was about the lack of experience picking by Cocu in the starting line-up.
Cocu made 10 changes to his team for the trip to Trentside, handing debuts to 17-year-old Louie Sibley and 18-year-old Morgan Whittaker.
The average age of the 11 was 24 and featured seven players 24 or under, and there was a youthful look to the bench with Jason Knight, Max Bird and Jayden Mitchell-Lawson.
Forest made eight changes themselves, but showed much more composure and quality than their opponents on the night.
Cocu was asked whether he would make the same number of changes for this weekend’s Championship tussle, and there was a hint of a smile on his face when he responded.
"I don't think the same team will play!" Cocu told Derbyshire Live .
He added: "It is a tough, and important away game. Of course, the ambition for us to get a result against Forest and also in an away game is very important for us."
