Erik ten Hag faces a moment of truth on Sunday as he prepares to lead his depleted Manchester United team out at the City Ground.
United have already beaten Nottingham Forest three times this season - once in the league and then in both legs of their Carabao Cup semi-final. A fourth victory might not be so straightforward, though, with injuries robbing Ten Hag of a number of players.
Lisandro Martinez has been ruled out for the season after sustaining an injury towards the end of Thursday's Europa League draw against Sevilla. With Raphael Varane also failing to see out the game, and Marcus Rashford already sidelined, the former Ajax boss has some decisions to make.
United go into the game level on points with third-place Newcastle United, but have a chance to leapfrog the Magpies. Eddie Howe's side were beaten 3-0 by Aston Villa on Saturday, meaning Unai Emery's men aren't out of the top four race themselves.
With a second leg against Sevilla on the horizon on Thursday, Ten Hag will have to balance the need for Premier League points with efforts to stay alive in Europe. Here, Mirror Football looks at how United could line up on Sunday afternoon.
Goalkeeper and defence
"When Licha Martinez drops out with no opponent involved, it doesn't look that great," Ten Hag said after the Sevilla game. "It doesn’t look that great. We have to wait, I can’t say in this moment.”
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Sure enough, it was as bad as United feared. The World Cup winner will not play again this season, while Raphael Varane - who only managed 45 minutes in midweek - is also set to miss Sunday's game. This means Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof are expected to start together at the back against Steve Cooper's side.
Ten Hag's full-backs weren't entirely convincing on Thursday, and we could well see some changes there too. That means Diogo Dalot in for Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right and Luke Shaw in for Tyrell Malacia on the left, with David de Gea the only survivor from the Sevilla back-line.
"We have now two sessions to go of training, so I don’t know by now, but it can be that Scott [McTominay] and Luke [Shaw] return in the squad, but [I’m] not sure," Ten Hag said in his pre-match press conference. England left-back Shaw could also be called upon at centre-back in next week's FA Cup semi-final, with Maguire suspended for that game.
Midfield
Bruno Fernandes is an obvious pick to start in the middle against Forest. The Portuguese is suspended for the second leg in Spain so there is no risk in that regard.
Casemiro should also start, but Marcel Sabitzer could be given a rest. The on-loan midfielder scored both United goals on Thursday night, but may be taken out of the starting line-up to keep him relatively fresh for the next game.
While Donny van de Beek remains injured, McTominay and Christian Eriksen are both in contention to feature, while Zidane Iqbal and Fred were both unused subs against Sevilla. Eriksen looks the most likely to get the nod as one of the deeper-lying men in a 4-2-3-1 set-up.
Attack
Anthony Martial got an hour up front against Sevilla, but Ten Hag admitted it might be a risk to blood the Frenchman from the start again given the issues elsewhere in the squad. This means Wout Weghorst could start up front, but the Dutchman didn't have the best of auditions on Thursday night and there's every chance the pre-game hints could be a bit of mind games.
"Maybe he can [start] but it's a risk and we can't take that risk in this moment because we don't have so many options in the frontline with [Marcus] Rashford and [Alejandro] Garnacho injured, so we have to be careful," Ten Hag said of Martial. "Also, in the individual prospect, we know when there's a lot of load he gets injured and we have to build it, especially when the games come quick."
With Garnacho and Rashford unavailable. Jadon Sancho is in line to start again on the left. On the opposite flank, Antony impressed against Sevilla before being withdrawn on a yellow card, and it would not be a surprise to see the Brazilian given more minutes.
Man Utd XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Sancho; Martial
