476 Absolute Strength

Appendix: Nottingham Forest's final list in the 2006-07 season (jersey number in brackets).

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (1), Paul Gerrard (25), Igor Akinfeev (12, on loan to CSKA Moscow)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (22), Gareth Bale (2), Pascal Chimbonda (3), Sun Jihai (21), Gerard Piqué (24), Vincent Kompany (33), Pepe (6), Wes Morgan (5)

Midfielders: George Wood (13), Demetrio Albertini (4), Martin Petrov (8), Rafael van der Vaart (23), Kris Commons (20, on loan to Watford), Ashley Young (18), Aaron Lennon (17), Franck Ribéry (7), Mikel Arteta (14)

Strikers: Freddy Eastwood (11), Nicklas Bendtner (9), Ruud van Nistelrooy (10), Nicolas Anelka (39)

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"Guys, don't you think it's amazing?" Twain asked his team in the locker room before the first game of the season. "Our first game last season was here too, against the same opponent."

When he said that, everyone thought about it. He was right, it was exactly the same.