Nottingham Forest chief executive Mark Arthur admits his side are ready for the challenge of next season despite being handed a tough opening-day clash at Reading on August 8.

It gets no easier for the Reds with back-to-back home games following against West Brom and Watford.

"From the moment the fixtures come out and you can look at what is coming up, you start to anticipate what is ahead," Arthur told the Nottingham Evening Post. "It does look like a tough start but we look forward to the challenge.

"It was a terrible season for us last season but when the fixtures come out you can look at them and at least consider that we are still in the Championship. Charlton, Southampton and Norwich are not but we can look forward to playing at this level again but we do not want to go through that experience again.

"It is no surprise our main goal is to do better than we did last season. We want to move forward and improve and will strive to make sure we do that.

"We do not have to wait too long for the game against Derby either. That is great because we want to get our hands on that Brian Clough trophy."