Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has given little away about the extent of the hamstring injuries suffered by Moussa Niakhate and Cheikhou Kouyate last weekend.
The duo were forced off during the 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa, having only recently returned from lengthy lay-offs. Midfielder Kouyate was making his first start since spending four months on the sidelines but had to make way in the first half, while the Reds had to play the final 10 minutes with 10 men as they were unable to make any more substitutions when centre-back Niakhate came off.
Cooper has had a lengthy absentee list to contend with as Forest battle to avoid relegation. Emmanuel Dennis was classed as a “risk” being included on the bench against Villa after picking up a knock in the previous game against Leeds United, while Scott McKenna was an unused substitute after being out of action since February with a hamstring issue.
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“We picked up some injuries last week. I don’t want to put definite times on how long they are going to be out for, but it wasn’t great last week,” Cooper said, ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.
“We haven’t got any players returning. Scott McKenna was back on the bench last week, which was a positive. He’s had another week’s training and is a little bit closer to starting games.
“It’s not an ideal situation. But it’s one we’re not going to dwell on, because the most important thing at the moment is trying to improve results. We have to always focus on the guys who can play in the next game.”
Renan Lodi and Gustavo Scarpa were added to the injury list prior to the trip to the West Midlands. Jesse Lingard has been struggling with some niggles, while Serge Aurier, Ryan Yates, Chris Wood, Willy Boly, Dean Henderson, Omar Richards and Giulian Biancone remain absent.
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