Two teams who should be full of confidence after weekend wins will meet in the second round of the Carling Cup at The City Ground on Wednesday (kick-off 7.45pm).
Nottingham Forest clinched their first victory of the Championship campaign with a thrilling 3-2 home win over Watford, while Sunderland opened their Premier League account by winning at Spurs 2-1.
The game is a repeat of a pre-season friendly staged at The City Ground less than a month ago. A Kieran Richardson goal gave Sunderland victory that night.
It's also a chance for both sets of supporters to honour former Forest manager and Sunderland striker Brian Clough.
Fans are being encouraged to follow the example of the great man - by wearing green, which famously was the colour of the sweatshirt he wore throughout his 18-year tenure of Forest.
Team news
Colin Calderwood will be hoping to have Kelvin Wilson available after the accomplished central defender missed the Watford game through injury.
Wilson suffered a back spasm in the build-up to the game and failed to recover in time to figure on Saturday, which gave club captain Ian Breckin the chance to make his first Championship start of the campaign.
The Reds will again be without Joe Garner, Paul Anderson, Lewis McGugan and Arron Davies.
Sunderland will be without midfielder Teemu Tainio, who has a muscle strain, while Pascal Chimbonda, who was 'rested' at the weekend is pushing for a return.
Boss Roy Keane, meanwhile, has confirmed that the club expect to complete the signing of West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand in a deal reported to be worth around £8million.
However, Keane insists Ferdinand won't be considered for the game against Forest - even if he signs in time.
He played for both
Colin Todd forged his considerable reputation on Wearside with Sunderland, making more than 170 appearances for the club in the late 1960s and early '70s before moving to the East Midlands.
Derby was his first port of call after Roker Park as Brian Clough paid a then British record £175,000 for his services - ironically just hours after Clough had told reporters: "We're not signing Colin Todd, we can't afford him."
It proved to be money well spent as the classy central defender made almost 300 appearances and won 27 caps for England.
After spells with Everton and Birmingham he was reunited with Clough in 1982 when he joined Forest. He made 36 appearances for the club before joining Oxford two years later.
Head to Head
The records books show that Sunderland have enjoyed marginally more success than Forest since their first meeting, in an FA Cup tie back in 1891.
The Wearsiders have recorded 38 league and cup wins, compared to Forest's 32, with 24 games finishing in draws.
Sunderland came out on top the last time they met The Reds in a competitive fixture - in December 2004 at The City Ground.
Marcus Stewart punished Forest for squandering a host of gilt-edged opportunities by bagging a last-gasp winner.
Stewart fired home in added time to earn Sunderland a victory that took them into the automatic promotion spots in the Coca-Cola Championship.
Defeat added to Forest's relegation worries but it could all have been so different had they made the most of the chances that came our way.
David Johnson and Gareth Taylor were guilty of the two worst misses, while Neil Harris - making his first home appearance following his move from Millwall - was also a culprit.
Sunderland took the lead after just four minutes of the second half as Stephen Elliott directed a downward header past Paul Gerrard from Liam Lawrence's ball into the box.
Forest hit back six minutes later as Andy Reid chipped in from 20 yards out after Myhre had got in a tangle with his skipper Gary Breen.
And after Gregor Robertson had been red carded for bringing down Chris Brown on the edge of his own area, Stewart fired past Gerrard after latching on to a pass from Julio Arca.
Forest: Gerrard, Robertson, Morgan, Dawson, Thompson (Commons 90), Rogers, Bopp, Derry, Reid, Johnson (King 78), Harris (Taylor 68). Subs not used: Doyle, Doig.
Sunderland: Myhre, McCartney, Breen, Caldwell, Wright, Arca, Robinson (Whitley 51), Whitehead, Lawrence (Brown 56), Stewart (Neill Collins 90), Elliott. Subs not used: Alnwick, Bridges.
Where they finished last season
Forest - 2nd in League One
Sunderland - 15th in the Premier League
Tickets for the game, priced £15 for adults, £10 for seniors and £5 for under 16s, can be purchased in person from the Forest Ticket Office; by calling 0871 226 1980 or on-line at www.nottinghamforest.co.uk
