Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has urged his improved side to embrace the challenge that awaits them against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
Pep Guardiola and his star-studded champions returned to the Premier League summit for the first time since November with an important win over Arsenal on Wednesday night - although the Gunners still have an extra game to play in their own title pursuit. Only goal difference separates them at this juncture.
As for Forest, meanwhile, they have picked up since the post-World Cup restart and now find themselves 14th following three wins in their last four. However, they were humbled 6-0 by City in the corresponding fixture as Norway striker Erling Haaland helped himself to a hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium.
READ MORE: Every word from press conference
So what is the message to mid-table Forest before the City Ground showdown?
Speaking to NFFC media pre-match, Cooper said: "I use the word belief a lot because it's a massive ingredient to succeeding - especially this season. We didn't really play with the belief that we should have in the first half at Fulham, but we did well in the second half and looked a different team, so it starts with that.
"We have togetherness, spirit and an idea of how we want to play. When you play teams like City you have to accept there's a lot of things that you have to do, but that's the level so let's try and thrive on that.
"We always prepare for a team to be at their best. It's not easy to predict any Manchester City line-up, but you know the level they're going to play at, so we build our work around that.
"It's a challenge that we have got to embrace, we have to believe in ourselves and we've got good players. We had a disappointing result last time, but we're doing okay and have to keep that going."
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