Nottingham Forest will conclude their pre-season preparations with a friendly clash against Valencia at Meadow Lane on Saturday.
The visitors lost and conceded five goals in their most recent warm-up match, while the hosts played out a score draw with their city rivals who are four divisions below them.
Match preview
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Following a slender 1-0 defeat against Union Berlin, Nottingham Forest were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against local rivals Notts County on Tuesday in the first meeting between the two sides since 2017.
After Ruben Rodrigues cancelled out Sam Surridge's opener, Forest took the lead again with a brilliant 30-yard free kick from Cafu, before the Magpies restored parity just before the hour mark through Sam Austin.
Steve Cooper now has one final pre-season game against Valencia, and he is expected to hand the majority of his 11 summer signings minutes before the new season begins.
Forest have already spent over £70m on new recruits, but there is no sign of their transfer business slowing down this summer as they are allegedly closing in on the signing of Stuttgart midfielder Orel Mangala for around £12.75m, while a swoop for James Garner – who spent last season on loan from Manchester United – has also been mooted.
Cooper has built a promising-looking squad ahead of Forest's first top-flight campaign for 23 years and he will be hoping that they can hit the ground running when they travel to Newcastle United for their opening game on August 6.
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Valencia, meanwhile, were unable to maintain their 100% record in pre-season as they followed up wins over Borussia Dortmund and St Gallen with a 5-2 defeat against Stuttgart last weekend.
Marcos Andre scored both goals for Los Che, but Gennaro Gattuso will have plenty to ponder after his side conceded five goals against a team who narrowly avoided relegation from the Bundesliga last term.
Gattuso took the Valencia hotseat last month, becoming the club's 15th manager since the arrival of owner Peter Lim in 2014. Due to the club's financial situation, the Italian has been restricted in the transfer market, with Hugo Duro and Samu Castillejo the only two fresh faces to arrive so far this summer.
Valencia, who will be looking to build on last season's ninth-placed finish in La Liga, will face Nottingham Forest for the first time since beating them on away goals in the 1980 UEFA Super Cup final.
Los Che's fixture at Meadow Lane is their penultimate warm-up match before facing Serie A outfit Atalanta BC on home soil next week.
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Team News
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Nottingham Forest's new signing Omar Richards is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after sustaining a hairline fracture of the leg.
However, Surridge and Ryan Yates both returned to the side last time out following respective groin and knee problems, and they are set to be involved again this weekend.
The likes of Brennan Johnson, Joe Worrall and the club's latest signing Jesse Lingard are also expected to get minutes to build up their match fitness ahead of the new campaign.
As for Valencia, Gattuso used 19 players in the defeat to Stuttgart and is set to rotate his side again throughout the match on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is likely to return between the sticks at the expense of Giorgi Mamardashvili, while Thierry Correia, Gabriel Paulista, Mouctar Diakhaby and Jose Gaya could all line up in the back four.
Maxi Gomez is unlikely to feature amid uncertainty over his future at the club, so Goncalo Guedes is set to be joined in attack by new recruits Duro and Castillejo.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Worrall, Cook, Niakhate; Williams, O'Brien, Colback, Toffolo; Lingard; Johnson, Awoniyi
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Correia, Paulista, Diakhaby, Gaya; Soler, Guillamon, Musah; Guedes, Duro, Castillejo
We say: Nottingham Forest 2-2 Valencia
After drawing against non-league opposition last time out, albeit with an under-strength side, Cooper will be hoping that his Forest team can finish their pre-season on a high with victory at Meadow Lane.
However, they cannot afford to take Valencia lightly and may be forced to settle for a score draw this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
