The former club captain has re-emerged in the last couple of days as the likely successor to Billy Davies and confirmed earlier in the week that he was in talks about a return to the City Ground.
Current caretaker manager Gary Brazil is set to be given the chance to push the Reds over the line and into the play-offs with Pearce set to take over in the summer.
Brazil's next task is to end Forest's winless streak and the visit of relegation-threatened Millwall on Saturday provides the perfect opportunity to do that.
Whether the home crowd will also get the chance to welcome back their new manager remains to be seen.