Nottingham Forest are sweating on the fitness of defender Scott McKenna and attacker Morgan Gibbs-White ahead of Monday’s crunch clash at Leicester City.
The pair were forced to withdraw from international duty, with Scotland and England Under-21s respectively. And they are injury doubts for next week’s trip to the King Power Stadium, when the Reds will be out to stop a run of four successive defeats.
McKenna had played the full 90 minutes in each of Scotland’s victories over Ukraine and Republic of Ireland, and showed no obvious sign of injury. But he pulled out of the national squad, ahead of Tuesday night’s Nations League match against Ukraine in Poland due to a knee strain. Gibbs-White, meanwhile, did not feature for England, withdrawing before games against Italy and Germany, suffering from a foot problem.
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Marinakis chats
Head coach Steve Cooper says he continues to have regular conversations with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis as he aims to spark a turnaround in form.
The Reds make the trip to Leicester City on Monday night having suffered four defeats on the spin. Second half collapses at home to fellow promoted sides Bournemouth and Fulham in their last two outings sees Cooper’s side sitting second-bottom in the table, with four points from their first seven games.
Although frustrated by recent results, the Welshman is confident he is seeing signs of progress in his new-look team, on the back of a summer shopping spree which saw 22 signings made. Cooper has regularly had contact with Marinakis throughout his time in charge, and he says that has remained the case throughout the early weeks of the Premier League season.
“I speak to him often, after most, if not every, game,” Cooper said of Marinakis. “Conversations have been normal.
Transfer talk
Nottingham Forest are said to be rivalling Liverpool for the signature of Egyptian winger Ibrahim Adel, who is being hailed as 'the next Mohamed Salah'.
The 21-year-old is currently with Egyptian outfit Pyramids but has been linked with a move to Europe for over a year, with a host of European clubs following his progress.
Salah is believed to have made sure his bosses at Liverpool are fully aware of Adel's talent, with 90min reporting that their scouts were already familiar with him.
Adel was reportedly the subject of a £2million bid from Danish outfit FC Nordsjaelland over the summer. However, it fell short of Pyramids' valuation, which is believed to be at least £5m plus add-ons.
Goalkeeper trial
Nottingham Forest have been casting their eye over teenage goalkeeper Owen Foster.
The Scunthorpe United youngster has spent time training with the Reds. But as yet, there is no indication over whether a move will follow - although if it does, it would most likely be with a view to linking up with the youth team.
Foster signed a two-year professional deal with the Iron earlier this year, with the National League club holding another year's option beyond that. The 17-year-old put pen to paper while still in the first year of a 24-month apprenticeship with their academy, having made a positive early impression.
Scunthorpe interim manager Tony Daws told BBC Radio Humberside: “Owen went to train with Forest on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. They wanted to have a look at him.
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