Nuno is following in Clough's footsteps at Nottingham Forest with a new twist

Stepping into the City Ground this season feels like a throwback to the glory days of Brian Clough.

There is a generation of Nottingham Forest fans old enough to remember those triumphs but now they have a team transporting the younger crowd back there with them.

This title-chasing Forest team embrace their golden age but with a modern twist. There are long balls, long throws and long periods defending on the edge of their box but they are comfortable on the ball. They lure teams in and punish them.

Just look at their goal against Liverpool. Forest won the ball aggressively on the halfway line and, in two passes, cut through the entire Liverpool team to put Chris Wood through. It's wily, old-school and plays to their strengths.

Don't underestimate Wood

Wood is such a good target man. He drops deep, develops play and triggers the press.

His movement is so clever and he can score with both feet and his head. His finish against Liverpool, with his weaker foot, was one of real precision.

Workaholic wingers

Is there a better right back in the country than Ola Aina, whose enormous throw is another welcome nod to a bygone age? On the other flank, Neco Williams comes inside on his right foot and sends raking balls into the channels for Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Those two are workaholics. They block passes into the opposition's front men but are primed to spring the attack.

The new Shilts

Cloughie said a great goalkeeper is worth 15 points a season. How many has Matz Sels earned Forest already? He's saved more than three-quarters of the shots he's faced, the best rate of any first-choice keeper.

He's rekindling memories of the legendary Peter Shilton. Sels keeps it simple with the ball at his feet, too. Eighty per cent of his goal-kicks go long. If Forest are leading late on, manager Nuno Espirito Santo will switch to a back five and put up the defensive shield.

Forest have conceded just three goals in the last 15 minutes of games.

Doing a Leicester

I see comparisons with the Leicester side of 2015-16. Not just because they counter-attacked but it was a team filled with players discarded by big clubs, like this Forest one.

Hudson-Odoi and Aina, unwanted at Chelsea. Elanga at Manchester United. Wood and midfielder Elliot Anderson at Newcastle. Williams at Liverpool. Even Nuno, sacked by Spurs.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis embraced his players proudly as they left the field against Liverpool. That reminded me of Cloughie, too.

If Liverpool slip up on Saturday, a Forest win on Sunday would put them right on the leaders' coat-tails - who would have believed that a year ago.