Nottingham Forest Under 18s assistant coach Gareth Holmes is encouraging supporters to make tomorrow night’s FA Youth Cup fourth-round match a special occasion for the players.
The Reds take on the Blues as Birmingham descend on The City Ground (kick-off 7pm).
And Holmes hopes for a healthy home crowd to help the players set up a potential home tie against Liverpool in the next round.
The coach told Forest Player HD: “The Youth Cup is a special night for any scholar. I think if you talk to any pro they will remember their Youth Cup days.
“I’d really encourage the fans to go and make that night special for the boys. They will then get a glimpse of the next batch that might come into the first team.
“I know the players will value that encouragement and support.”
Holmes is coming up against his former club having left Birmingham for Forest this summer.
He said: “Once Gary Brazil got in touch to give me the opportunity I knew I couldn’t say no.
“I know the area, I know the people and it’s a massive football club that you want to be part of. To have this chance is outstanding for me.
“I’ve been very impressed with the mentality of the boys - their desire to work hard.
“We talk a lot about taking on information and not having a fixed mind-set. We want the players to want to be better than they were yesterday.
“We’ve tried to do one or two things a little bit differently this year and I think we’ve reaped the rewards of that hard work and intensity on the field.”
Ticket information for Thursday night's game is available here.
Quelle: nottinghamforest.co.uk
