The 31 year old midfielder is committed to The Reds until January 2 after completing a deadline day switch from Doncaster.
He could make his debut against Charlton tomorrow (kick-off 3pm) and exclusively told www.nottinghamforest.co.uk:
“I’m obviously over the moon – it’s something that has come at the right time for me because I’ve needed a fresh challenge and this is the ideal place for me to prove myself and play at this level again.
“As a kid I supported Forest. I came here on trial when I was younger and watched Forest against Manchester United at The City Ground when Stan Collymore scored.
“Stan was a massive hero of mine and The City Ground was somewhere I always wanted to play.
“Whenever I’ve come here and played in front of such a big crowd it has always given me a massive lift – and now I can’t wait to do it as a Forest player.”
Coppinger was on the Doncaster team bus heading to Yeovil when he first became aware he had the chance to link-up with his former Rovers boss Sean O’Driscoll again.
“We set off at 12.30 and my agent phoned me while I was travelling down,” he revealed.
“I spoke to Dean Saunders when we were near Bristol and I got off the bus at a service station.
“My agent drove down to pick me up and took me to Nottingham.”
Tickets for tomorrow’s game are available in person from the Forest Ticket Office; on-line at www.nffcretail.com or by calling 0871 226 1980 (calls charged at 10p per minute, mobile rates may vary).