Steve Cooper has named his Nottingham Forest starting XI for the East Midlands derby against Derby County at the City Ground today and the inclusion of defender Max Lowe has left many Reds supporters exciting.

The Sheffield United loanee has been impressive since joining Forest but has been absent due to injury since November.

Lowe, who came through the Derby academy system, returns to the starting XI to face his former club in place of centre-back Joe Worrall, who is missing from the squad completely.

Forest will be hoping to maintain their 100% record in 2022, having claimed wins against both Arsenal and Millwall so far, while they've not lost an East Midlands derby at the City Ground since 2021.

Their fierce rivals look in a worrying place off the field with talk of potential EFL expulsion and liquidation but Wayne Rooney's side have continued to pick up impressive results.

The Rams have taken 13 points from a possible 15 in their last five Championship games, helping them to move within eight points of safety.

Cooper's side, meanwhile, could close the gap on the top six to just two points with a victory today.

That fact is not lost on fans of the East Midlands club and the inclusion of Lowe has left many of them excited...