Rovers head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson is excited by the challenge of Rovers’ Carabao Cup tie with Nottingham Forest.

Premier League side Forest return to action at Ewood Park tonight having not played in six weeks due to the World Cup break.

Steve Cooper’s side have used that time to play four friendlies, including victory over Valencia last week.

Forest’s summer recruitment hit the headlines, with spending in excess of £150m, leaving Tomasson in no doubt about the quality of test they will face tonight.

He said: “They haven’t played since before the break but they have had plenty of games, they have been playing friendlies, Olympiacos, Valencia, good sides.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge, seeing the players compare themselves to players who play in the best league in the world, a place we want to go to over time.

“I don’t know how many players they brought in but I think they spent over £150m, which is quite a heavy amount.

“In that way there’s been a lot of changes there. But they had a couple of good results before the break.

“It’s a good challenge, it’s an opportunity to develop and to prove themselves.”

Rovers’ six-game winning run at Ewood was brought to an abrupt end with a 4-1 defeat to Preston North End in their last home game.

They responded with victory on the road at Norwich, lifting morale ahead of the league cup tie.

“It was not a good performance, we spoke about that, and I think the lads did an excellent job at Norwich,” Tomasson added.

“We took 500 fans to Norwich on a cold night and now we’re looking forward to this game just before the Christmas period, which will be a busy period.”

Tomasson made six changes for the Norwich fixture, and more are anticipated against Forest.

He added: “If you look at our squad we need to use the squad to have competition but to develop players as well.”

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