Nottingham Forest face return to Premier League action with a midlands derby and relegation six-pointer as they welcome Wolves to the City ground on Saturday afternoon.
Having seemingly turned a corner early in the year, Steve Cooper’s side have failed to win in six games and now sit just two points clear of the drop zone, and a point behind their weekend opponents.
Likely needing at least four wins between now and the end of the season to ensure survival, Forest face Manchester United, Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford in April, as well as Arsenal and Chelsea in May, meaning that they need to take maximum points from games such as this one against fellow relegation candidates.
Here’s the latest injury news from the Forest camp, plus how we expect them to line up in a must-win affair.
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Steve Cooper and Nottingham Forest’s survival hopes have been dealt a major blow as it has emerged that striker Chris Wood will miss the remainder of the season through injury.
Signed in January from Newcastle United, the New Zealand striker picked up a thigh injury over the international break, meaning that he will play no further part in their bid for Premier League survival this season.
Johnson is touch and go, with Cooper explaining that he is “not back to full fitness” despite missing Wales’ internationals to remain training in the midlands.
They join what remains a long injury list, with Willy Boly, Omar Richards, Ryan Yates, Guilian Biancone, Dean Henderson, Emmanuel Dennis and Wayne Hennessey all still sidelined.
In better news, however, both Taiyo Awoniyi and Cheikhou Kouyate are back in training having been absent for all of 2023 so far.
‘He [Awoniyi] is back now; he looks sharp, motivated and excited to be involved again. We will have to be careful with him, but it is good to have him back involved’, Cooper explained.
