On December 26, Nottingham Forest triumphed by 2:1 over Aston Villa in an away game.
And then, on December 29, the Forest team returned to their home ground. Their opponents were "The Black Cats," the Sunderland team. The two teams, who had competed against each other in the EFL Championship before, were now in the Premier League. The difference lay in the situations of both teams. Nottingham Forest had now accumulated forty-two points with a high ranking of second place, whereas Sunderland was at the bottom after eighteen rounds in the league tournament, with only six points from their single win, three draws, and fourteen defeats.
As they were facing such a weak opponent and it was their home ground, Twain carried out a large-scale rotation once again. Other than van der Sar, George Wood, and Anelka, all other players were changed.
Amidst the cheers of twenty-seven thousand Forest fans in City Ground stadium, Nottingham Forest easily won by 3:1.
