Video: Mustapha Carayol speaks about settling in to life at the City Ground
Nottingham Forest travel to Villa Park on Sunday (September 11) and will be looking to extend their winning form.
In Forest’s last game before the international break, the Reds managed a 3-1 home win over Leeds United which propelled Forest to seventh in the table following wins against Wigan and Millwall in the EFL Cup.
The Sky Bet Championship fixture kicks off at 1.15pm.
The most important thing for me is to put a shift in for the team
International Gambian winger Mustapha Carayol signed for Nottingham Forest on a free from Middlesbrough the day before deadline day and spoke about his aims for the season, both individually and for the team.
He said: “I want to show everyone how good I can play and work towards getting towards how I was playing at Middlesbrough before I got injured.
“It’s important on a personal scale but the most important thing is for me to go out and work hard for the team and put a shift in.
“As long as I can be a big part of what the team does, I’m sure it will be a successful season for me.”
I feel like I’ve been here for a season already
Carayol has had no problems settling in and said he’s been made to feel welcome by his team mates.
He said: “I feel like I’ve been here for a season already!
“I’ve played against a lot of the boys before so I know quite a lot of them; I’ve been here for a week so that can only be a good thing.
“Having a fully fit squad for as long as possible will be key.”
Nottingham Forest record v Aston Villa
Played: 122
Won: 37
Drawn: 28
Lost: 57
The meeting between the two sides will be the first for over 17 years, with Villa winning the last fixture 2-0 in the Premier League on April 24 1999.
Mark Draper scored on the stroke of half time to put Villa ahead with Gareth Barry consolidating the win with a 57th minute strike.
The forecast for Sunday’s match is cloud for the duration of the game with no threat of rain; temperatures are expected to remain at 17 degrees Celsius.
