Nottingham Forest are due to play a behind-closed-doors friendly against Italian opposition this week, as part of their international break schedule.
Without a Premier League game for the next fortnight, Reds head coach Steve Cooper will be aiming to use that period to address a miserable run of form. There is plenty for the Welshman to mull over before his team return to action at Leicester City on October 3, and he will also get valuable time on the training pitch with his players.
A number of the Forest squad have linked up with their national squads. But for those remaining, a match against Palermo has been planned.
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The Serie B outfit are set to travel to England this week and will use Manchester City’s facilities during their stay. It is understood they will play the Reds in a behind-closed-doors game at City’s Academy Stadium on Friday.
For Cooper, the friendly will be a chance to work on issues which have led to Forest recording four straight defeats. They went into the international break having been toppled 3-2 by Fulham on Friday night.
That was the second successive match in which they had thrown away a lead against a fellow newly-promoted side at the City Ground, after losing to Bournemouth by the same scoreline. It leaves the Reds 19th in the Premier League table, with four points from their first seven games.
In a translated story on their official website, Palermo said of their trip: “During the week of the Serie BKT championship break, from 20th to 24th September, Palermo FC team and staff will be guests of the City Football Group at the Etihad Campus in Manchester, the headquarters of Manchester City.
“The team coached by Eugenio Corini and the Rosanero management will fly to England for a four-day retreat, having the opportunity to use the training fields and facilities usually available to the team coached by Pep Guardiola and the Citizens’ Academy.”
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