The Athletic.

Hi there, this is The Athletic HQ in London once again

and we're here every Friday to look ahead to the weekend's action,

the major talking points as well. And alongside me today, we have a bit of rotation, a returning

hero and a debutante. Let's start with the returning Nick Miller still fresh, still buoyant

from Nottingham Forest win at Stanford Bridge.

You've still got a smile on your face, haven't you? I've been grinning all the week. It's been absolutely marvellous. Yeah. I was there as well. It was in the away end, which is a rare pleasure. But yes, it was absolutely glorious. Yeah, good for you. It was a good win. A good win. And you're looking good to stay in the Premier League. Oh, I was thinking you were saying, I was looking good.

Well, no, you always look good.

I was going to take the compliment. Yeah, I've decided after four games of the season that Forest are going to be absolutely fine and there's going to be no concerns at all over the next nine months or so. And the drama, the drama will not deliver any drama from now until the end of the season. No, no, it's plain sailing. Absolutely fine. Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine on this podcast in terms of data because our guru is back. What a tenuous link. It is Tom Harris. How are you? Ready to go again? You return. You've kept your place in the side.

Yeah, delighted. I mean, I've got a long way to go to catch up to Nick's incredible record, but just to be mentioned in the same breath, it's an honour.

Excellent. No, it's good to have you on board. And a debut for Thomas Hill, Lopez Mencherro, Thomas, for people who aren't aware of

who you are and where you come from. Who are you and where do you come from and what do you do

for the athletic? Well, thanks very much for having me on. I'm Junior Spain editor, so you might

be used to reading our Real Madrid and Barcelona coverage. I help edit that, occasionally

write as well,

half Spanish, so close to my heart. That's my background. And it's been a busy time for various

reasons with Spain, of course. Great to have you all on the show. However much I love it and however

much I was going to attempt to do a fixture formation for the international break, which goes on for two weeks.

I've been told in no uncertain terms, don't even try it, sunshine.

All right, leave it out. We're not going to do a fixture formation.

There's loads of international fixtures all over the world, and you'll be able to watch them if you wish.

Let's start by talking about England. They are the masters of qualifying campaigns.

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