The East Midlands outfit have made a solid start on their return to the Premier League, having claimed four points from their four games to date.
While Forest currently lie in 14th place in the table, City are ideally poised in second place, with last Saturday’s superb 4-2 comeback win against Crystal Palace taking us up to 10 points from our opening four games.
Pep Guardiola’s side will be seeking to make it three successive wins at the Etihad this season when we welcome Forest for Wednesday’s 7.30pm assignment.
However, former City skipper Morrison says what will be our first Premier League meeting with Forest since 1995 will prove another demanding challenge.
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“I think Forest will be pleased with their start to the season,” Morrison pointed out.
“It’s so important to get points on the table when you’ve been promoted. They’ve brought a lot of players in and have got an exceptional manager.
“I’ve followed Steve Cooper’s career for a few years now from when he was first at Swansea.
“I think he’s a really forward-thinking manager, in a similar way to Graham Potter (of Brighton).
“He’s played a huge part in their success. It’s a good start for them and they’ve got some points on the table and that’s the main thing.
“You can get slightly overawed early on when you get back into the Premier League, and if you get into a bad run it can take a while to get points, so they’ll be pleased so far.”
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For Forest this season marks the Club’s first return to the top-flight in 23 years.
Since then of course, much has changed within the dynamics and set-up of the English game.
Not least, according to Morrison, the marked difference between life in the Championship and the Premier League.
For newly promoted sides, Morrison believes that can often prove the biggest hurdle in cementing their hard-won elevated status.
“The gulf between the Championship and the Premier League is huge,” the former City skipper pointed out.
“The teams that do come up do have a momentum, there is an energy around the place. Huddersfield did it when they came up, Watford have done it too.
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“We saw it with Brentford recently and I’m sure Forest will be exactly the same.
“That first season there’s a real energy around the place and I think it’ll be the same with Nottingham Forest.
“But as things settle down, they might suffer a few times and could have some heavy defeats, but it’s how they react.
“They won’t look too much into the games against the top teams, there’ll be other games they’ll believe they should be getting something out of.”
Off the field, Forest have been extremely busy with Monday’s loan capture of Renan Lodi from Atletico Madrid on a season-long loan deal making it 17 signings for the club over the summer transfer window.
“There’s been a significant change in the squad, with those 17 players coming in,” Morrison added
“The manager must believe that the energy he’s bringing in and new faces will add to it. I think it’ll be hard to gel that, but at the moment they’ve done well and it is very early.
“They must take credit to have that many players come in and get the results they’ve already managed to get. I think only in time will we see how successful it has been though.”
