Having played one less fixture than all of the other teams currently in the top seven, the Riverside Stadium trip is a chance for Forest to keep themselves firmly in the hunt for an automatic promotion place.
Billy Davies declared himself happy enough with Saturday's goalless draw at Millwall and will hope to have a few more options at his disposal for the long journey to Teesside.
Middlesbrough were well beaten at the Riverside by leaders Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and are still looking over their shoulders at the bottom three despite some signs of a revival under returning hero Tony Mowbray.