Nottingham Forest defender Scott McKenna has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a fractured collarbone.
On only his second appearance since returning from a hamstring problem which had kept him out since February, the 26-year-old was forced off after half an hour of Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Liverpool. And he is now set to miss the Reds’ remaining six games as they fight to stay in the Premier League.
With Willy Boly still sidelined with a hamstring issue, it leaves Joe Worrall, Felipe and Moussa Niakhate as the centre-backs available to Cooper. It also adds to Forest’s injury woes as they continue to have a long list of players absent.
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“It’s not great news, unfortunately. He’s fractured his collarbone, so that’s him done for the season,” said the Reds head coach ahead of Wednesday night’s clash at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.
“It’s a blow. A real blow for him, having just returned back from a hamstring injury and worked so hard to get back.
“He’s a great professional, who always gives his best in everything he does. For him to suffer the bad luck he has done with this injury is really unfortunate.
“He’s naturally down. He’s a fairly positive guy anyway and is pretty low key, he just gets on with his work. He’s a good team man. He would have loved to have continued to commit everything for the rest of the season, but unfortunately that’s not the case.”
In addition to McKenna, Forest are currently without Jack Colback, Cheikhou Kouyate, Gustavo Scarpa, Serge Aurier, Ryan Yates, Chris Wood, Willy Boly, Dean Henderson, Omar Richards, Giulian Biancone and Jonjo Shelvey.
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