MILLWALL face arguably their biggest test of pre-season when they take on Nottingham Forest on foreign soil.
Fans of both teams have dashed over to Spain for this evening’s clash at the Pinatar Arena, the first of two games the Lions will play at that ground.
Before they can face Spanish side Real Murcia on Friday morning, they play opponents who will be much more familiar to fans.
Forest are entering their third season in the Premier League having bought an extraordinary amount of players over the past couple of years who helped them scramble to safety two years running.
Nuno Espirito Santo, who replaced Steve Cooper as head coach in December, has overseen another busy summer of spending.
The most expensive signing so far is that of Elliot Anderson, who joined on July 1 from Newcastle for a reported £35m. Forest fans will be hoping to see him in action in midfield this evening.
While defender Nikola Milenkovic arrived last week from Fiorentina for £12m to add some strength to the defence.
Millwall themselves have been busy in the market and yesterday made their fifth signing in 14 days. Goalkeeper Liam Roberts has joined his new team-mates in Spain after arriving on a free deal following his release from Middlesbrough.
Like Millwall’s other new goalkeeper signing, Roberts spent last season in League One and will now be looking to battle Lukas Jensen for the number one spot in what could become a compelling pre-season sub-plot.
Elsewhere, Japhet Tanganga and Macaulay Langstaff have still yet to make their first appearances in front of fans since their signings earlier this month but could make their bow during this game.
The Lions will be hoping to put in a slightly punchier performance than what was witnessed in the 0-0 draw against Gillingham as they continue to build up to the league season, which is now less than three weeks away.
Millwall’s last competitive game against Nottingham Forest came in January 2022 when a late Lewis Grabban goal won the points at The Den.
In fact, Millwall are winless in this fixture on the last four occasions since Matt Smith’s epic 13-minute hat-trick brought victory at the City Ground just before Covid took hold in 2020.
This game has been pushed back an hour to 7pm UK time (and 8pm local time) due to the hot weather currently being experienced in Spain.