Head coach Steve Cooper has named his Nottingham Forest team to face Brighton and Hove Albion in tonight’s crunch clash.
The Reds go into the game knowing victory at the City Ground would lift them out of the relegation zone. Sitting 19th in the table ahead of kick-off, they are two points below 17th-placed Leicester City.
And Cooper’s men will have been buoyed by a spirited display at Anfield at the weekend. Forest were beaten 3-2 by Liverpool to suffer a fourth straight defeat and an 11th match without a win, but their performance provided positives to build on.
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The Reds boss made a bold call on Merseyside by leaving top scorer Brennan Johnson out of the starting XI. It was a move which almost yielded a result, but the 21-year-old returns to the line-up this evening as one of two changes.
There is also a return for Serge Aurier, who has been sidelined since the international break, while Cheikhou Kouyate makes his comeback on the bench. Aurier and Johnson replace Scott McKenna, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a fractured collarbone, and Remo Freuler.
Captain Aurier looks set to fill in at centre-back as part of a three-man defence, alongside Felipe and Moussa Niakhate. Neco Williams and Renan Lodi keep their places on either flank.
With Freuler dropping out, Danilo and Orel Mangala make up the midfield. Morgan Gibbs-White will support Johnson and Taiwo Awoniyi in attack.
The substitutes’ bench is made up of Wayne Hennessey, Joe Worrall, Jesse Lingard, Harry Toffolo, Sam Surridge, Emmanuel Dennis, Andre Ayew, Kouyate and Freuler.
Forest: Navas; Williams, Aurier, Felipe, Niakhate, Lodi; Danilo, Mangala; Gibbs-White; Johnson, Awoniyi. Subs: Hennessey, Worrall, Lingard, Toffolo, Surridge, Kouyate, Freuler, Dennis, Ayew.
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