Graeme Murty is looking forward to catching up with his old team-mate Nathan Tyson when Reading travel to Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the 2008/9 season.

The Royals skipper was pleased to see the fixture calendar throw up a trip to the City Ground, and thinks it will be a good challenge in which to kick off the new campaign.

He said, "I think it's a great opening day fixture. Forest will be on a roll after their promotion last season, and the City Ground will probably be close to a full house so we'll be looking forward to it.

"I know Nathan Tyson of course from his days here, as quite a few of us do. He's a terrific player and we'll need to be at our very best to keep him quiet."

Murty admitted he was just as eager to find out the fixtures as any Royals supporter, and says it marks a time to now start looking forward to the new season rather than looking back on the disappointment of relegation from the Premier League.

He added, "The fixture list coming out is always a big day in the summer. I'm on holiday at the moment, but was desperate to find out those fixtures just like the fans would have been.

"It brings a real tangible feel to it. We know what to expect in the Championship, we've been there before and succeeded at that level.

"There are some big clubs in the Championship and there are already some very interesting fixtures to look out for. Birmingham at home on the last day is one of them and so is Southampton away over Christmas."

To see our full 2008/9 Championship fixture list,  visit our Fixtures and Results page.