Nottingham Forest head coach Philippe Montanier says Sunday's game at Aston Villa will be 'a special meeting' between two clubs with a glorious past.

The Reds travel to Villa Park for the first time since 1999 this weekend and the Forest head coach says he is looking forward to seeing his side lock horns with one of the favourites for promotion to the Premier League.





He said: "Sunday is a special meeting between two clubs with a glorious past. Aston Villa are a big club, they're one of the favourites to win the league and they have a top manager who has won the Champions League.





"It's a really exciting game for us. If you want to do well in the Championship then you have to pick up points away from home and that's what we have to do on Sunday. It is a game all the players are looking forward to.





"I'm happy the summer transfer window is now closed. It means that we can concentrate on our football with the squad that we have and make sure Nottingham Forest has a bright future."





Montanier could be without the services of a couple of his key players this weekend and the Forest head coach says he will have to utilise all of his squad throughout the month of September.





He said: "Britt Assombalonga and Chris Cohen will probably miss Sunday's game. They both have minor injures that shouldn't keep them out for too long but we don't want to risk them with so many games coming up.





"Nicklas Bendtner is not fully-fit and Sunday's game might come too soon for him but we expect him to be match-fit very soon. He wants to rediscover the form that got him into the Premier League and we're hopeful he can do that with us.





"We have quite a few matches coming up in September so we will need to use all of our squad. We've recruited some good attacking players who will bring pace to our squad as it's important for our fans that we attack well."