Forest ended their pre-season preparations with a 3-2 victory over Nottinghamshire rivals Notts County at Meadow Lane.

The scoreline flattered the Magpies after they pulled back two late goals to set up a tense finale but the Reds always looked good value for the win.

Robert Earnshaw, who wanted to play despite Colin Calderwood asking him if he wanted a rest, almost gave Forest the lead but his header failed to trouble Kevin Pilkington.

He made no mistake with his second chance however when he struck a shot from 15 yards. Pilkington managed to get a firm hand on the shot but the ball skwirmed through his body and trickled over the line to make it 1-0 and gave Forest fans the first chance to see his trademark ‘flip’ celebration.

Earnshaw then forced Pilkington into another save. He made space for himself just outside the penalty area before shifting the ball onto his right foot and sending a curling shot towards the bottom corner which was tipped wide for a corner.

The resulting corner brought the Reds’ second goal. A good cross by Cohen found the head of Julian Bennett who made no mistake with Pilkington helpless.

The second half saw lots of changes from both sides with plenty of former Reds on show. Spencer Weir-Daley, Ben Fairclough, Adam Nowland and John Curtis all wore the black and white at stages during the game to add to the link of Ian McParland in the Notts County dugout.

It was the red and white though that extended the lead. James Reid played a great ball through the middle to release Earnshaw once more and he finished off the move expertly after going through one-on-one.

Forest took their foot off the pedal towards the end. A back-pass to rookie goalkeeper Dale Roberts saw him take a horrible first touch which allowed Jamie Forrester to nip in and pass the ball into an open net to make it 3-1.

Ben Fairclough, currently on trial at Meadow Lane from Forest, grabbed a goal to make it 3-2. His cross from the left looped over Roberts and nestled into the far corner to set up a nervy finish but a win never really looked in doubt.

Next time out will be the real deal against Reading next Sunday when results start to matter. The Championship returns…

MOTM: Robert Earnshaw – bagged a brace and generally made himself a nuisance to the Notts defence. Let’s hope we see more of his trademark ‘flips’ this season.