Image source, BBC Sport

Not too many surprises in that Forest line-up selected by Brian Laws.

Kenneth (a full-name reference Brian Clough would have appreciated there) Burns and Stuart Pearce bring brute strength at the back, alongside the pace of Des Walker and Viv Anderson.

The midfield has plenty of defensive nous and bite, and it's not shy on creativity in the final third either.

Trickery and quality out wide, while Nigel Clough and Stan Collymore up front is a good pairing in anyone's book.

Oh, and the small matter of one of the best goalkeepers ever to play the game in Peter Shilton.

So why are we doing this? Well, for years we’ve heard fans of Forest and Derby claim their club is the best. So we wanted to put that to the test.

With the help of the clever folk at Football Manager, who have trawled more than a century of football stats, we have built two virtual squads of the finest players ever to pull on the red of Forest or the white of Derby.

Former players Brian Laws and Craig Ramage have agreed to take on the role of managers. They’ve picked their starting XIs and tonight the teams go head to head. 

Both squads are brimming with internationals and have dozens of trophies between them.

How will the number crunching and stats and facts play out? This is going to be fascinating.

Picture it. Eric Cantona linking up with George Best against Vincent Kompany and Francis Lee in the mayhem of an all Manchester meeting?

Jimmy Greaves and Harry Kane facing Tony Adams in a battle for north London supremacy. Lionel Messi and Romario in the same Barca line-up. You get it now right?

Image source, .

Tonight we make fantasy a sort of reality - and it's legends of Nottingham Forest taking on their Derby County counterparts.

Stuart Pearce, Stan Collymore and Trevor Francis will be on the same pitch as Roy McFarland and Archie Gemmill. Bring it on.