Voltar
Nottingham Forest face a big game in Suffolk this week as they bid to bring an end to their losing run.
The Reds have suffered three defeats on the spin and find themselves 19th in the Premier League table with five points. They will hope to get back to winning ways when they take on newly-promoted Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Friday night (8pm kick-off).
Head coach Oliver Glasner has almost a fully-fit squad to choose from against the Tractor Boys. Morgan Gibbs-White was absent for last weekend’s 1-0 reverse to Arsenal due to a muscle problem but has been given the green light to feature this time around.
Defender Nikola Milenkovic is also available to start the game, if Glasner decides to recall the Serbian to the XI. He was on the bench against the Gunners after recovering from bone bruising and has now had a few more days to build up his fitness.
Make sure you never miss the latest Nottingham Forest news and opinion by making the Nottingham Post one of your Google preferred sources .
Glasner said of Gibbs-White: “Yes, he’s ready. He trained for the entire week, so no issues. Milenkovic was already on the bench so he is also ready to start and ready to play.
"Of course when your captain is available again, it's important. We also know that Morgan is somebody who can create chances and who can score goals himself, and that's always very positive.
"But on the other side, I think we could see that without Morgan Gibbs-White we had a very competitive team against the champions, and this gives us confidence. We lost without Morgan. We lost with Morgan.
“He's an important part. But he alone can't win the game, so we need a top team performance but it’s good to have him back.”
Two players remain sidelined for Forest. Striker Igor Jesus is out of action with a calf issue but could return for next month’s meeting with Manchester City. Long-term absentee Nicolo Savona has not featured since January, having undergone knee surgery.
Glasner said of Jesus’ recovery: “He's on track, I would say. If everything goes perfectly then he could return for the City game.
“Like I said with Morgan before, it is whether it makes sense to take a risk for one game? For example, after City we then have two weeks off because it's an international break. Does it make sense to take this risk when we have two more weeks? But he's on track.”
Ipswich, meanwhile, will be without Sasa Lukic (groin) for Friday’s clash. The midfielder missed his team’s 3-2 loss at Manchester City last weekend and has also been ruled out of this one.
Boss Gary O’Neil said in his pre-match press conference today (Thursday): “No, he’s not going to make it. Sasa will be out tomorrow.
“He’s taken a little bit longer. The one he’s missing this weekend is to almost guarantee he’s back on the grass really early next week.
“We’ve got a longer turnaround before we play Hull next weekend, so the idea is that by missing this one, he’s definitely back with the group next week and has a real good lead into that game, rather than push him into this weekend which we maybe could have done. It would have carried a risk, though, so this way we’re hopeful that next weekend he’ll be fully fit and ready to go.”