Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst is expecting a difficult test when his side take on Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup.
Town travel to the County Ground on Tuesday after beating Northampton Town 1-0 in the season opener on Saturday.
“It will be difficult”, admitted Paul.
“I watched them in pre-season and I watched them on Friday night. Mark Warburton was very critical of their performance because they gave up a few chances, but at the same time they have spells of play where they are so comfortable on the ball.
“They are a very hard to team to set-up against, because ultimately they’ve got better players. They are hoping for a much better season, which I think they will, so it’s a tough one.”
After the game on Saturday, Hurst commented on the effort levels of the players and he believes that similar high levels will be required to overcome Forest.
“It’s about trying to keep our shape and not getting pulled all over the pitch”, Paul continued.
“The way they play they are trying to make you stretched, so it’s about being as compact as possible, but also seizing opportunities to press and win the ball back in good areas.
“That’s easy to do on the tactics board and in your head, but to do it on what will be a really good surface will be difficult, so we’ve got to stay focussed and again we need a big effort.”
Paul acknowledged that a cup run would be nice, but admitted that the league will remain his bread and butter.
“I want us to do well”, said Hurst.
“What I would say is that whatever happens on Tuesday night won’t affect how I feel about the start of our league campaign and the Wimbledon game.
“I’m not going to lose focus of what we need to do in the league. If it’s a great result I won’t get carried away. If it’s a defeat it doesn’t mean we should rip everything up.
“It’s about trying to keep level headed and understanding what we are up against and how we try and cope with that.”