Nottingham Forest are set to give Blackburn Rovers their toughest pre-season test yet when the sides meet in Portugal. Tony Mowbray knows the friendly will ask different questions from the games Blackburn have already handled, with his team likely to spend long stretches without the ball.
That is why the match is drawing attention now. Blackburn have started with a 0-0 draw against Accrington Stanley and a 3-0 win over Barnsley, both useful runs but against lower-level opposition. Forest, by contrast, arrived in stronger shape after Oliver Glasner opened his reign as head coach with a 2-0 win over Notts County at the weekend.
Glasner has already made clear that his camp in Portugal is about more than fitness. He said Forest would continue the work they had started this week and described the trip as a chance to get used to how they want to play in and out of possession, on set-pieces and across the rest of their game. He also said two international players, Chris Wood and Ibrahim Sangare, will return during the camp, while Callum Hudson-Odoi will be partly integrated from Monday and Murillo may also be brought back to train with the squad.
Even without those players, Forest still fielded plenty of experience and quality in the win at Meadow Lane. Matz Sels, Ola Aina, Nikola Milenkovic, Morgan Gibbs-White, Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee and Igor Jesus were all involved, and Jesus and Arnaud Kalimuendo scored in a side that was split into two XIs in the second half. That depth is part of what makes Blackburn’s next assignment a step up from what came before.
Mowbray’s challenge is straightforward but unforgiving. He said the key will be choosing the right moments to press and making sure Blackburn are clinical when chances come. Against a stronger Forest side, that likely means surviving without the ball for long spells and making the few openings they do get count. The friendly is not just another run-out; it is a measure of how far Blackburn have come before the new campaign begins.
The unanswered piece is simple enough: when the friendly takes place in Portugal. Blackburn know the standard they are about to face, and Forest know the camp is already moving toward a sharper, more complete team. The game will tell both sides something useful, but it should tell Blackburn the most.
