Stuart Attwell will take charge of Nottingham Forest when they face Bournemouth on Friday night, just days after being announced as the referee for the Carabao Cup Final.
Dan Cook and Daniel Robathan will assist Attwell, with Gavin Ward on fourth man duties.
The 39-year-old has enjoyed an interesting career to date and he will oversee Liverpool against Chelsea at Wembley in a couple of weeks time.
On Friday, however, he will be at the Vitality Stadium to oversee a Championship game between two promotion hopefuls.
It’s not particularly clear why a Premier League official has been placed in charge and it’s a while since Attwell oversaw Forest.
The last time he refereed the Reds was during the 2015/16 campaign. He was the man in black as Forest were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.
Interestingly, Forest have never won when Attwell has refereed them. He has taken charge of five games with three ending in defeat and the other two in draws.
The Reds will be hoping to get back to winning ways against the Cherries.
Forest drew 2-2 with Stoke at the weekend in dramatic fashion. The Reds ended the game with Joe Worrall in goal after Brice Samba was sent off but Ryan Yates spared his blushes with an equaliser at the death.
Premier League referee Attwell can’t be an excuse for Forest
Leigh Doughty was relatively inconsistent with his decision making last weekend. There was, however, no complaints about the game’s big decision over Samba.
Attwell has fought back to enjoy a sound refereeing career. He was fast-tracked earlier in his career but a string of high-profile errors led to him being forced to take a step back and rediscover himself.
Now, he’s one of the Premier League’s big-hitters and it’ll be interesting to see how he does on Friday.
In 18 games this season, Attwell has shown 61 yellow cards and awarded five penalties. Interestingly he’s yet to show a straight red card.
Forest must put last week behind them.
This week offers another chance to stay on track. It’s important they take care of business and if the Reds play at their best, it won’t matter what decisions Attwell makes on the night.