Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce says his side should be relishing the opportunity to face their arch-rivals this weekend.
The Reds take on The Rams at the iPro Stadium on Saturday with both sides targeting a victory which eluded them in September’s 1-1 draw at The City Ground.And Pearce is looking forward to the overall occasion of the derby.
He told Forest Player: “It’s a wonderful derby game for us, for our fans and for everyone in this part of the world. I’ve been involved in a fair few over the years and I expect this one to be a highly-charged game.
“Derby are doing particularly well at the moment and it’s a great game we should be relishing.
“They’re a good side that’s been put together over a number of years. There are a lot of consistently good players in their ranks.”
Pearce is no stranger to the East Midlands derby, but he believes the fixture is a different prospect to the one he faced a number of times during his playing career.
He said: “In all honesty I think, from what I saw at The City Ground earlier in the season, there seems to be a heightened atmosphere between both sets of fans than from what I can remember as a player.
“It seems more acute now for some reason.”
Click here to watch the full pre-match interview on Forest Player.