Bristol City have to keep it cool at the City Ground, says Cole Skuse
Robins defender Jamie McAllister was sent off in a tempestuous Coca-Cola Championship clash against Nottingham Forest in April and the visitors ended up losing 3-2 in a game they should have won.
City's players felt their opponents resorted to gamesmanship to get McAllister sent off, and the contest ended amid heated scenes. Memories of that ill-tempered affair will be fresh in the minds of Skuse, pictured, and his team-mates when they return to the East Midlands tomorrow for a fixture between two of the Championship's form teams.
But he is adamant any bad blood between the rivals should be put to one side when the action begins.
He warned: "We cannot afford to lose our discipline. It's something the manager (Gary Johnson) has talked to us about and we have to go there and be professional about the way we conduct ourselves on the pitch.
"There is definitely an extra edge to this game because of what happened last season. Forest will say they were being clever, but we were disappointed with their players and said so afterwards.
"We thought they were un-sporting and it did cause tempers to flare. But that is all in the past and we have to keep cool heads and focus on the job of getting three points.
"We want to avenge last season's defeat at the City Ground, but it's not a matter of us going there to seek revenge."
The rivalry between the two clubs first surfaced in 2006 when both were competing to escape League One, and subsequent fixtures between City and Forest have invariably been feisty affairs.
Skuse explained: "It goes back to the League One days when Forest were the big club everyone wanted to play against and beat.
"It's one of those long-distance rivalries, but it definitely exists and comes from the time when we were competing at the top of League One.
"There have been a lot of changes at both clubs since then, but we've now taken that rivalry into the Championship and it is just as intense.
"It seems to be just the same for the fans. They always travel in good numbers to the City Ground and I'm sure Saturday will be no different.
"But we have to keep it clean on the pitch and make sure that rivalry doesn't spill over into something more serious."
Bradley Orr has still to fully recover from a calf injury and Skuse is again expected to fill the right-back berth. But there are sure to be changes elsewhere in manager Gary Johnson's line-up following last weekend's disappointing 1-1 home draw against Sheffield Wednesday. Midfielder Paul Hartley and strikers David Clarkson and Alvaro Saborio are pushing for recalls.
City captain Louis Carey should be available for selection after recovering from a bruised lower back, but fellow central defender Liam Fontaine only recently returned to training after an ankle ligament problem and will be given a run-out in the reserves at Reading on Tuesday.
Comment on this story