Huddersfield Town welcome Nottingham Forest to the John Smith's Stadium this evening in the second round of the Capital One Cup as they look to bounce back from the last-minute heartache of their 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic at the weekend.
Igor Vetokele's last-minute leveller ensured the Addicks left with a share of the spoils against their 10-man hosts, with Nahki Wells handing Town the lead early in the second period.
But Town have the perfect opportunity to respond quickly with the games continuing to come thick and fast and tonight sees the Championship's early pacesetters Forest stroll into town for an eagerly-anticipated cup clash.
And here is everything you need to know about the game as Town look to progress to the third round of this competition for only the second time since the promotion campaign of 2003/2004.
Kick-off
Huddersfield Town v Nottingham Forest (7.45pm)
The likely line-ups
Huddersfield Town (4-4-2): Smithies; Smith, Wallace, Lynch (capt), Dixon; Scannell; Butterfield, Coady, Bunn; Vaughan, Wells.
Nottingham Forest (4-4-2): Darlow; Hunt, Mancienne, Fox, Harding; Burke, Cohen, Reid, Antonio, Fryatt, Assombalonga.
Team news
Huddersfield Town: Caretaker manager Mark Lillis has been boosted by the successful appeal of Murray Wallace's red card from the weekend draw with Charlton Athletic but there are a few injury problems in the camp to contend with and Lee Peltier (groin) and Joel Lynch (ankle) are set to undergo late fitness tests.
Nahki Wells' ankle complaint will almost certainly open the door to James Vaughan who, himself, returned from injury at the weekend, while Radoslaw Majewski (ineligible), Joe Lolley (hip), Martin Paterson (knee), Anthony Gerrard (calf) and Oscar Gobern (toe) will definitely miss out.
Nottingham Forest: Stuart Pearce's injury troubles are easing somewhat, with Newcastle United-bound Jamaal Lascelles in line for a possible return to the starting XI alongside Kelvin Wilson, Henri Lansbury and David Vaughan after their respective returns to first-team training.
The one main absentee from his squad is striker Dexter Blackstock, who remains sidelined because of a knee injury.
Ones to watch
Huddersfield Town: James Vaughan - Town's star striker looked determined to make up for lost time when he emerged from the subs' bench in the weekend draw with Charlton and was a constant menace to the Addicks backline.
He will be intent on getting off the mark for the season and could well make his first start since a 1-0 defeat at Blackpool in March this year.
Nottingham Forest: Michail Antionio - Britt Assombalonga has rightly assumed many of the plaudits since arriving in a blockbuster £5.5m deal from Peterborough, but it has taken the gloss off some of his hard-working peers' efforts.
And that could not apply more to Antonio, who has been equally outstanding since arriving from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer and put another of his former employers - Reading - to the sword at the weekend with a deadly brace, leaving him as the club's joint top scorer so far this season - alongside Assombalonga.
What the bookies say
The visitors are the 5/4 favourites to progress to the third round of the Capital One Cup with Town rated 2/1 to secure their passage and 5/2 offered on the game failing to be settled in 90 minutes.
The best margin of victory for Town is 2-1 priced at 9/1, while the same scoreline for Forest is 8/1 and a 1-0 win for the east Midlands outfit 9/1.
Wells was the hat-trick hero for the Terriers in the last round and can be backed at 11/2 with Vaughan at 6/1 to score first while Forest's Assombalonga and Antonio, who were both on the scoresheet for the visitors at the weekend, are priced at 9/2 and 15/2 respectively.
Last time they met
Town lost in both meetings with Forest last season and conceded four goals without reply across the two games.
The two teams met in the inaugural match of the 2013/2014 campaign and Forest came out on top courtesy of Henri Lansbury's 53rd-minute goal before the reverse encounter saw Forest hit Town for three at the John Smith's Stadium through Jamie Paterson (2) and Darius Henderson.
Match facts
Head-to-head
Town have failed to win in their last eight games against Forest (lost five, drawn three).
Huddersfield Town
Top scorer Nahki Wells plundered a hat-trick in the Terriers' 5-3 extra-time success over Chesterfield in the last round and has now found the net seven times in just nine League Cup outings.
Town have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight League Cup matches and have conceded 21 goals in that time.
Nottingham Forest
Each of Forest's last four League Cup games against sides from the same division have ended 2-1, with three of those victories and one a loss.
Pearce's side have not conceded in six of their last 10 League Cup games away from home.
What the managers say
Mark Lillis: "“I enjoy a cup-tie, and of course we want to win and make the next round.
“But we also want to maintain the momentum we have created over the last few games."
Stuart Pearce: "We have to take every game one at a time and I have to evolve a squad situation where every player who plays is under pressure for his shirt, from somebody outside the team."
Man in the middle
Mark Brown (East Yorkshire). He was in charge of a match as recently as the weekend as he oversaw Port Vale's 2-0 defeat at home to Notts County and, in that game alone, issued three of the six yellow cards he has now handed out in four games this season.
Town fans may recognise him from his two John Smith's Stadium outings last season, as he took charge of the 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic and the 2-0 defeat to Ipswich Town.
Tom says
"This will be a real test of how far Town have come in their recovery from the wreckage of the opening-day evisceration at the hands of Bournemouth.
"Forest top the Championship standings after blowing away more or less everything in sight with a fearsome strike force and an exciting supporting cast.
"But equally, there should be an element of fear within Forest's ranks about what Town can do, particularly with the return of Vaughan, Conor Coady's impressive early form and the successful appeal of Wallace's red card all serving as timely boosts.
"If Town can find a way to prevent the supply line to likely starter Assombalonga and continue their promising form under interim manager Lillis, then they are capable of doing what no Terriers side has achieved in 11 years - reaching the League Cup third round.
"It also offers Lillis and his wounded charges the chance to recover immediately from the setback of Vetokele's stoppage-time equaliser at the weekend and put on another impressive display to the home fans but I fear Forest may just have too much in attack. 1-2."
