Nottingham Forest must wait to find out the extent of the hamstring injuries suffered by defenders Scott McKenna and Willy Boly against Fulham.
In a double blow for the Reds, both were substituted after seven minutes at Craven Cottage after going down and requiring treatment at the same time. It meant head coach Steve Cooper had to field a new-look partnership of Joe Worrall and debutant Felipe as his side fell 2-0 in the capital.
Forest are unsure how serious the diagnosis will be for McKenna and Boly. But if they are absent for any length of time, it would leave Cooper short of cover in that area.
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Right-back Serge Aurier is capable of playing there, but aside from Worrall and Felipe, Moussa Niakhate is the only other centre-back in the squad. However, the summer signing has only just returned to training from his own hamstring problem, having been sidelined since August. Steve Cook was left out of the 25-man Premier League squad following the end of the January transfer window, although he was in the stands watching on in the capital.
“It’s their hamstrings. We don’t know how bad they are,” Cooper said.
“I could see Scott’s was a hamstring straight away. Willy, I wasn’t too sure whether it was a contact or muscle, or whether he was going to come off as well.
“They’ve both got the same injury, in terms of it being a muscle one. How bad and what part of the muscle, we don’t know. As always, scans will determine the extent of it.
“We are short there. We’ll deal with it as it comes.
“Until we know the extent of the injury, we can’t do much planning. But for sure, we won’t cry about it, we will get on with it.”
Defeat brought an end to the Reds’ unbeaten five-match run in the Premier League. Goals from Willian and Manor Solomon sealed the points for the hosts.
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