Nottingham Forest star's absence explained as Brennan…

Nottingham Forest star's absence explained as Brennan Johnson injury update emerges

Here are your Nottingham Forest headlines on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

Spotted in training

Friday night under the City Ground lights has a big feel about it as Nottingham Forest prepare to take on Newcastle United.

The Reds could desperately do with a victory before they sign off for the international break. The gap between Steve Cooper ’s side and the bottom three has been slashed to two points, and they are without a win in five games.

Ahead of the match, NottinghamshireLive got to watch Forest being put through their paces in training at the Nigel Doughty Academy. Here’s what we spotted...

There was no sign of Brennan Johnson among the training group. The Wales international was forced off in the second half of last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur with a groin strain.

He was due to undergo a scan to determine the severity of the injury. Head coach Cooper will provide an update in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, but Johnson appeared to be a notable absentee from the session. Likewise Ryan Yates, who played for the Under-21s on Monday afternoon as he builds up his fitness, and Chris Wood, who also came off injured in north London.

Although we didn’t get a close look at the goalkeeping group, it seemed as though there was no Wayne Hennessey out there. Certainly, Adan Kanuric filled in between the posts, with Keylor Navas at the opposite end, during a practice game.

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Johnson update

Wales boss Rob Page has said that they will be "sensible" over playing Nottingham Forest's Brennan Johnson during the upcoming international break.

The 21-year-old has been in fantastic form this season for Steve Cooper's side with the Nottingham-born forward having scored seven Premier League goals in 26 appearances during the current campaign.

But the Welsh international suffered a groin problem during the Reds defeat at Tottenham on Saturday with manager Steve Cooper saying they "don't know how bad" his injury is. Concerns over Johnson's fitness have raised doubts over his participation in Wales's upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia.

And those injury concerns were put directly to the Wales boss ahead of their international fixtures at the end of the month. Speaking to reporters, Page said: "It's probably the accumulation of a lot of minutes that he's had in a tough demanding league where he has to be 100% all the time.

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Scarpa absence explained

Nottingham Forest midfielder Gustavo Scarpa has been back in Brazil dealing with personal matters.

The 29-year-old returned to his homeland earlier this week. The club are understood to have given him permission to make the trip.

According to reports in Brazil, Scarpa made the journey to try to solve issues which have arisen after investing in a cryptocurrency venture. He is said to have lost about £1 million.

The January signing posted a message on Instagram saying he was heading "back to" England. In a translated post, he also wrote: “Thank you for the messages of support. God bless you all.

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Sutton warning

Nottingham Forest have been told that they are in 'big trouble' after the Reds poor away form continued at the weekend in a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham.

Steve Cooper's team have won just once away from home in the Premier League all season - a 1-0 win at Southampton in January. The Reds have also only scored four times on their travels during the current league campaign.

The poor away form is in stark contrast to Forest's impressive home form, with the Reds last tasting defeat at the City Ground in a 3-2 loss against Fulham in mid-September. But BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton has said Forest will be flirting with relegation unless they solve their away day woes.

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