Forest are no ordinary club.

The aura of the legendary Brian Clough still lingers around the corridors at the City Ground.

Reminders of his legacy are everywhere. Two replica European Cups glisten in the trophy room, while a photograph of Clough pouring champagne into the real thing adorns the wall.

Ten managers have come and gone since the day in 1993 that Clough finally left the club but perhaps the long shadow he casts is even more pertinent given the parallels to be drawn with the 11th man to try and bring success back to Forest.

Two decades ago Forest still had Clough - the greatest manager England never had. Now they have McClaren, who has already had the England job but whose career was very nearly destroyed by the experience.

Like Clough, McClaren takes over Forest with the club in the second tier.

And like Clough, who came to Forest fresh from his failure with Leeds, McClaren arrives at the City Ground in the knowledge that, in this country at least, he too has a reputation to rebuild.

But while McClaren acknowledges the size of the task at hand, he feels he has nothing to prove on his return to these shores following spells in charge of Dutch club FC Twente and Wolfsburg of Germany.

"I was successful before I took the England job, being part of a hugely successful spell at Manchester United (as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson) and winning the League Cup with Middlesbrough and getting them to a UEFA Cup final, and I have had success after the England job by winning the Eredivisie title with Twente," said McClaren.

"I don't feel I have anything to prove. Sometimes you take chances and sometimes it doesn't work out but I believe you become better for those experiences.

"And I will need to have learned from them because Nottingham Forest is a huge club steeped in history and heritage. It should be in the Premier League and that is where I will try to take it."

McClaren added: "I was a player during the Clough era and he had an aura about him.

"You can still smell the history and achievement around the club today. They used to say Notts County were on an equal level (with Forest) before Cloughie. What he did here shows what can be achieved.

"I can't be frightened or intimidated by that - I have to embrace it all. What we have to bring is a modern era and culture and try to create a new team and take small steps to trying to achieve something."

Forest fans could be forgiven for thinking they have heard all this honouring-the-past before but they have not had a manager since Clough who can claim to having won a European league title.

McClaren concluded: "Taking everything into consideration, getting Nottingham Forest into the Premier League could prove to be right up there as one of my biggest challenges. But I don't fear it.

"I had no hesitation about managing in the Championship, it's very competitive and very well respected abroad. But it is not a division we want to be in for too long."