Aitor Karanka's promotion favourites will provide the toughest test of a newly-resilient Reds, themselves unbeaten in 10 games and into the top-half of the Championship table after their 3-0 victory against Bolton Wanderers last Saturday.
The unpredictable nature of the division can affect even the top teams as Middlesbrough found out when suffering a surprise 1-0 defeat against managerless Bristol City on Saturday but that was surely just a blip given they have taken 25 points from their last 10 matches.
Hope for Forest, however, comes not just from their own solid run of form but from the fact that their hosts rarely run amok, scoring 20 goals in their 13 home fixtures to date and relying on a defence that has conceded just twice at the Riverside in the league this season.
With the Reds averaging a goal a game against them on the road in 2015/16, the odds would seem to be on a narrow victory for Middlesbrough.
Can Dougie Freedman's men spring a surprise?