Nottingham Forest’s excellent home form faces its sternest test so far when Manchester City visit the City Ground on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
The Reds have not lost on their own turf in the league since mid-September. Head coach Steve Cooper is under no illusions about the size of the challenge to keep that run going, but it is one he is determined to embrace.
Cooper has already overseen plenty of memorable moments on the banks of the Trent, if he can pull off another one against City, it really would be something special. Ahead of that match, here’s our round-up of all the latest goings-on.
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Special sporting weekend
A tasty encounter at the City Ground will be part of a big weekend of Nottingham sporting action. Later in the day, WBA featherweight champion - and Reds fan - Leigh Wood will defend his crown in front of a home crowd when he faces Mexico’s Mauricio Lara at the Motorpoint Arena.
“I hope it is a special weekend. We’d love to play our part in that,” said Cooper. “It’s a great day for the supporters, and a great weekend for the supporters of the city and the boxing. We wish Leigh well.
“He’s a big supporter of the club. It’s incredible what he’s done for the city, as well as our lads.
“Let’s hope we can have some good success together over the weekend and the supporters of both can have a weekend to remember. There will be a lot of hard work within that, of course, but we have to play with ambition and positivity, and that’s what we’ll aim to do.”
There will be Forest representation to watch Wood in action, with Brennan Johnson set to be among the crowd. “Can’t wait,” said the Wales international, when Wood “gatecrashed” an interview with Ariel Helwani, which is on the club’s YouTube channel.
Injury record
The number of players in the treatment room seems never-ending at the minute. Just when the situation seemed to be easing, with the news Moussa Niakhate had returned to non-contact training, there was a double blow with the injuries to Scott McKenna and Willy Boly.
Injury talk has dominated Cooper’s press conferences almost as much as discussions about signings the Reds have made. And one particular stat shows just how hard the squad has been hit on that front.
According to injury analyst Ben Dinnery on social media, since Forest’s return to the Premier League six months ago, players have been sidelined for “days totalling almost 3 years, with half of the current injury list still out for at least another month”. He adds: “Since the summer, Steve Cooper’s side has sustained 32-time loss absences. And following the news that Boly & McKenna will be sidelined for 6+ weeks that means more than a third of their injuries will extend beyond a month.”
Meanwhile, it did not escape the notice of Reds fans that Loic Bade, whose loan was cut short last month without the defender making a single appearance in the Garibaldi, picked up an injury in midweek. He was forced off for new club Sevilla after barely quarter of an hour against PSV Eindhoven.
Smith situation
In his two-decades at the club, goalkeeper Jordan Smith has almost been part of the furniture at Forest. With his contract up in the summer, though, his January deadline day loan move to Huddersfield Town had an “end of an era” feel about it.
The 28-year-old has not played for the Terriers yet, with Huddersfield having confirmed he was brought in to offer back-up to Tomas Vaclik and competition to youngsters Nicholas Bilokapic and Jacob Chapman. Smith himself has said: “Obviously there’s no guarantees of any playing time but I’ve just an opportunity now to get in front of a fresh set of eyes, show the manager and the goalkeeping coach what I’m all about, and hopefully that will entail helping the team in any way possible.”
It remains to be seen whether a permanent move to the John Smith’s Stadium arises at the end of the campaign. But Stoke City are believed to be watching the situation, while depending on what happens with ex-Reds boss Sabri Lamouchi in the summer, Cardiff City could provide a potential option for Smith.
England call-up?
Morgan Gibbs-White’s fine form is said to have put him on the radar of England boss Gareth Southgate. If and when that happens, it will be well deserved.
Southgate was in the City Ground stands to watch the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Manchester United. Assistant boss Steve Holland subsequently attended a Forest training session soon afterwards, according to the Daily Mail.
Cooper has often stressed how “the exciting bit” with the summer signing is just how much better he can still get. Much has been made elsewhere about the fee the Reds paid - an initial £25m, with the potential for that to rise to up to £42m with various add-ons - but it has never seemed to weigh heavy on the attacker, or his manager.
“If we’d paid double that, I wouldn’t have been thinking about that either,” Cooper has previously said. “It’d have been nice if we could’ve paid half that though wouldn’t it!”
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