Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Jordan Smith on his last FA Cup appearance, facing Petr Cech and that performance against Ipswich

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Jordan Smith’s last FA Cup involvement came in October 2015 and takes a little stretch for the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper to remember.

‘It was for Nuneaton against North Ferriby United,’ he tells Sportsmail after thinking. ‘They knocked us out.

‘I remember it because we lost 2-1 but I saved a penalty. There were only two rows of seats and not many people in them. I can imagine it will be a very different setting against Arsenal.’

Jordan Smith will play his first FA Cup game since October 2015 on Sunday afternoon

That game was in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup, so this is Smith’s debut in the competition proper and sees him tasked with stopping whatever formidable frontline Arsenal put out at the City Ground.

‘I’m in at the deep end,’ he says. ‘They don’t come much bigger. It is a baptism of fire. I am really looking forward to it. I still think the FA Cup has a sparkle.’

Smith’s enthusiasm is refreshing but there is reason as well as romance. The match in front of the television cameras represents a chance for the 23-year-old to show the improvements he has since established himself as Forest’s No 1 during the second half of last season, which culminated in a last-day display to savour against Ipswich.

The goalkeeper has since established himself as Forest’s No 1 in the second half of last season

In a performance punctuated by saves, Smith earned a cult reputation for producing superb reactions to push Dominic Samuel’s deflected shot against the crossbar. Forest went on to win and survive in the Championship on goal difference.

‘I do feel I’ve made better saves but that is the one that sticks out because of the importance of the game,’ he says.

‘That was the one where I went from relatively unknown, from being “a” goalkeeper to “the” goalkeeper. It thrust me into the limelight so to speak.

‘I probably didn’t realise how big a job being the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper is. I have learnt since then the weight it carries with it.

‘I live in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and you still get a load of fans around that area. I have been at the club since I was seven years old, it has been a massive part of my life.

‘My family are Forest fans, so the historic side has never been lost on me. Even now we are producing attendances outside the top-flight that not many can boast.’

Smith speaks warmly of Mark Warburton for having faith in his abilities but respects the club’s new Greek owners wanting to ‘move in a different direction’. ‘I will work hard for whoever comes through the door,’ he says.

Smith earned a cult reputation for producing superb reactions in recent performances

‘Under the old regime we were teetering on a knife-edge. If that shot had gone in and the club gone down we have found how hard previously it can be to get out of League One. It would have been such a cataclysmic event.

‘On the flip-side it gave us a rebirth with new owners coming in. They have managed to achieve a lot in a short space of time, especially off the field, we are well integrated again with the community and that is huge. It is a platform to build on.’

On a personal level, Smith is building on his distribution skills, having been directed by Warburton to play from the back and encouraged by Ederson’s impact at Manchester City.

‘If you look at the money, the £30m Manchester City spent on Ederson, he is probably the best in the world at it,’ says Smith. ‘He can ping it to his full-back, or a wide midfielder or even a striker standing on the opposition’s box. I think he is as instrumental to the team as Kevin De Bruyne. And he can still make really important saves.

‘I study all the best goalkeepers. It was important for me to improve on distribution. The position is always changing and I’m always learning. I’m practising my distribution short, medium, and long-range so I can help the team.’

Petr Cech is a hero, and Smith won’t miss a chance to pick the Arsenal goalkeeper’s brains

Petr Cech is a hero too, and Smith won’t miss a chance to pick the Arsenal goalkeeper’s brains should one arrive.

‘I’d love for Cech to be there either playing or part of the squad so I can get a little chat with him before,’ he says. ‘When the whistle blows it will be professional hat on, look to win the game.

‘I see it as a free hit because we are going into it as underdogs, Arsenal are expected to come and perform the football everybody knows they are capable of. We are there to put a spanner in the works. I am likely to get tested so if I do well it is a great opportunity.

‘If they don’t approach their work professionally there could be an upset on the cards. In terms of our game-plan we know what we need to do.’