Scott Parker is expecting a tough test from Nottingham Forest this weekend – irrespective of the manager he’ll be facing in the opposition dugout.

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The Reds are now under the guidance of former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, after the Australian replaced the recently ousted Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Portuguese coach was axed last week just three league games into the season, despite leading Forest to a seventh-placed finish last season, which secured European qualification.

While Postecoglou hasn’t got off to the best of starts, losing his first two games in charge – one in the league against Arsenal and the other in the cup at Swansea City – Parker knows just how dangerous a side Forest are.

“It’s been well-documented that Ange, wherever he's gone, has been hugely successful and he did that again last year, so we’re up against a huge competitor and someone who's been around it for a long, long time,” he explained.

“Obviously, the planning for us is, I wouldn't say not ideal, but you're obviously planning for a totally different set-up, maybe, and a different outlook on the game and we'll be aware of that, for sure.

“It'll be a tough game, as always, and certainly with Ange being there as well, whether it was Ange or Nuno, it's the Premier League and we'll have to come with our best game.”

Scott Parker will face Ange Postecoglou in the dugout this weekend, rather than Nuno Espirito Santo. Pictures: Kelvin Lister-Stuttard & Getty Images

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Postecoglou has been thrust straight into the action at the City Ground, facing two games in the first five days.

That’s given him precious time to implement his ideas on the training ground, something that will be vital for ‘Big Ange’ given his desire to play a different style to Nuno.

“I think that's fair to say, and that's not being critical,” Parker added.

“There's a different coach that goes into a football club, brings different ideas, different philosophy, a different way of playing. Ange will be no different in terms of walking into Forest and wanting to change certain things.

“What I do know is that they have a strong squad with strong individuals - and for all the talk of a new manager coming in, new manager not coming in, what I do know is that we're going to need to prepare for this game like we have done over the course of this early part of the season and be the team that we've shown that we can be.

“If we can be that, we'll cause Forest some problems. We need to make sure that we're at our optimum, fully focused and have a real understanding of what we need to bring to this game.”

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