Video: Montanier remains confident while his players showcase a “strong mentality”
Nottingham Forest will be making the short trip up north tomorrow night (September 14) to face Rotherham United at the New York stadium off the back of a spirited display against Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Reds had their fair share of ups and downs at Villa Park with two players (Matty Cash and Thomas Lam) going off injured and a Hildeberto Pereira red card for excessive celebrations putting a dampener on a late Henri Lansbury equaliser.
The decision to send the young Portuguese full back off perplexed many Reds fans but they will be without him for their clash with the Millers.
Apostolos Vellios scored his first goal for the Reds on Sunday, a stunning strike from outside the area and he will be looking to build on that tomorrow night.
With doubts over Britt Assombalonga and Nicklas Bendtner’s fitness and long-term casualty Matty Fryatt, the Greek international is expected to keep his place up front for Forest.
Rotherham, on the other hand, may be looking to hand Dexter Blackstock his debut. The well-travelled forward left Forest at the beginning of September but was quickly snapped up by the Millers and could start against his former employers.
The hosts already have ex-Reds Greg Halford, Lee Camp and Kelvin Wilson on their books and they could all feature tomorrow night.
I had a dream of keeping a clean sheet
Reds gaffer Philippe Montanier called Sunday’s result “a good point” but will be looking to turn one point into three in Yorkshire but they do need to improve defensively. The Reds currently have the second worst record in the division for goals conceded.
The Frenchman said: “We have improved overall defensively but for me we need to more as we conceded another two goals (against Aston Villa) but I did have a dream of keeping a clean sheet.
“It will be very good for the team, for the defenders and goalkeeper and we know if we have a clean sheet then we are closer to a win because we have a good capacity to score.”
Nottingham Forest’s record v Rotherham
Played: 33
Won: 17
Drawn: 10
Lost: 6
The last meeting between the two sides ended in a stalemate. Neither side could break down the other as the game finished 0-0.
Neil Warnock’s side had the better of the first half without ever really testing the now departed Dorus De Vries.
The game will be remembered for a stand-out display by Ryan Mendes who seemed to do everything but score during the 90 minutes.
Forest were under the caretaker management of Paul Williams at the time and this draw brought a halt to four straight losses for the Reds.
