Nottingham Forest have left Lewis O'Brien out of their 25-man Premier League squad for the remainder of the season after his deadline day move to Blackburn Rovers collapsed.
Leeds United were heavily linked with O'Brien last January and again in the summer and looked set to come up against their former transfer target on Sunday afternoon when they travel to the City Ground. Jesse Marsch's squad can leapfrog 13th placed Forest with a win - overtaking them on goal difference.
Forest have been relentless in their recruitment drive and Leeds will face a much-changed side to the one that secured promotion to the Premier League last season. And now O'Brien has felt the full force of their squad bolstering after he was left out of their 25-man roster of players eligible to play for the rest of this term.
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The midfielder looked set to join Blackburn on loan ahead of Tuesday's deadline, but issues regarding the timing of the paperwork scuppered the completion of the deal. The EFL refused to approve the move and Rovers subsequently provided more information on Thursday in the first step of their appeal.
Their case was still rejected however, but the club have now confirmed that they will appeal the EFL's decision. There is still a chance O'Brien's move could go through, with Rovers submitting further documents ahead of their next deadline - Tuesday, February 7.
Should that appeal fail, O'Brien will either face six months without football or be forced to move to a club in a country where the transfer window is still open, such as Austria, Croatia or Turkey.
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