Nottingham Forest v Hull City: Championship is up there with Premier League, says Nigel Adkins

The former Republic of Ireland manager took charge at Nottingham Forest in early January, and was joined soon afterwards by Roy Keane.

“When you look at world football now the Championship is up there with the Premier League, isn’t it,” said Adkins?

“Because it is global now and not as many managers going into the Premier League are British, a lot of managers drop down.

“It is a tough division, but the rewards for getting to the Premier League are there.

“Look at (Marcelo) Bielsa coming to Leeds, for example. Tony Pulis up at Middlesbrough, too. They have dropped into this league to give themselves a chance of going back up again.”

Adkins takes his team to the City Ground today looking to pile pressure on the top six

Bristol City, who occupy the final play-offs berth, sit four points ahead of the Tigers, whose last defeat on home soil came against Forest in November.

“We were very disappointed with ourselves when we played against Forest at home, but we learned valuable lessons from that defeat,” said Adkins.

“We responded in a good way (Hull have won their last eight at home) to keep moving forward.

“They have got a different manager now. There are expectations on a club like Nottingham Forest and expectations on the manager.

“They spent a hell of a lot of money in the summer and their expectation was to be in the top two or at least the play-offs.

“That has not happened and the manager has lost his job. Now they have got an experienced manager in Martin O’Neill, along with Roy Keane going back as well after losing their jobs with the Republic of Ireland.

“They have got a different mindset now, but they are still expected to do well.

“We know it will be a tough game because they have invested heavily and they have got good players.

“However, I believe we have got good players and a good team and we will go there full of confidence again.”