Former England boss McClaren took over at Forest during the summer and has had an unsettled start and for certain he'll be hoping it doesn't rain tonight as last news was there are no umbrellas available on the touchline in front of the Bob Lord Stand.
McClaren saw Forest record their second away win of the season on Saturday when an Ishmael Miller goal gave them a 1-0 win at Watford and he wants his side to build on that win.
He said ahead of tonight's game: "It's too early to say whether or not we've turned a corner but I would hope the win over Watford could provide the catalyst we need. Beating Watford certainly changed the mood at th end of what was a tough week for us.
"After losing to Derby we recovered a bit of pride against Newcastle and then on Saturday ground out a vital win. It lifted spirits but we know we've still a long way to go. It will be a tough game at Burnley and we need to show the same kind of grittiness that we displayed at Watford.
"I think the most important thing was to grind out a result and get a clean sheet because we've been conceding too many goals. We looked harder to beat and we've got the quality to score goals. Although Watford wasn't a pretty game it was the perfect result from our perspective.
"This is a big week for us. We've started it well, we've got to make sure we follow it up against Burnley and then move on to Birmingham on Sunday.
"It was satisfying to keep a clean sheet. We had to go a different way about it but so be it. Hopefully we will grow from that."
Burnley might not have won on Saturday but the performance pleased Howe who has asked for another passionate show from his team and the fans.
"We have to be positive on the back of a good performance and the pleasing thing for me was the crowd's reaction," he said. "I thought they were excellent all through the game and I'm sure they appreciated the lads' efforts.
"I think that's what they want to see week in, week out. They want to see that hard work and commitment t o the club and I'm sure as long as they see that they will back us.
"We want to see it rocking week in, week out. The difficulty was against Middlesbrough, we didn't give the crowd anything to get their teeth stuck into. Saturday was completely different. The players were on the front foot from the first minute.
"The crowd wants to see 100 per cent effort from the players. I think they could see that everyone put a real shift in and I think they see that they will back the lads to the hilt."
Looking forward to the game, he continued: "Nottingham Forest are an experienced side which has been in and around the play offs for the past couple of seasons.
"On the back of a win on Saturday they will probably say they are on the up, but we feel we are on the up and we are looking forward to the game. We need wins. We are aware of that and with back to back wins you can be in the top six at this stage. That's how tight it is and we do have a game in hand on every other club. There are different ways of looking at it, but we are aware we need to win games, and quickly."