Nottingham Forest boss Colin Calderwood insists his side's stay at Germany will provide ideal preparation for the new Coca-Cola Championship season.

Calderwood's newly-promoted side will be based at a sports training complex near Cologne and will train at least twice a day before playing their first pre-season game.

Offenbach Kickers will provide the opposition for the friendly next Friday, and Calderwood told the club's official website: "We've done the core of our pre-season work since reporting back on July 1 - now is the time to work on specifics before we get back into playing matches.

"It's the first time we've been to Germany but we've done our homework and the facilities look excellent, just what we require at this stage of our build-up."

Calderwood is taking a 20-man squad to Cologne, including all four of his summer signings Andrew Cole, Robert Earnshaw, Paul Anderson and Guy Moussi.