Your latest Nottingham Forest headlines for the morning of Sunday, 12 February.
Unwanted record
Nottingham Forest suffered two injuries in the first minutes of their Premier League clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Steve Cooper was forced into a double substitution in the seventh minute of the game after Willy Boly and Scott McKenna went down injured early on.
Boly pulled up in the fifth minute after chasing a ball, and McKenna required treatment around the same time. The two central defenders were replaced by Joe Worrall and new signing Felipe for his first appearance for the Reds.
According to Opta, it is the earliest any side has ever subbed off two starters in a Premier League game. Afterwards Cooper revealed that both men hurt their hamstrings.
Absences explained
Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper says Jesse Lingard was not included in the squad to face Fulham due to an injury concern, while Danilo was left out for selection reasons.
Lingard was an unused substitute against Leeds United last weekend, having recovered from an Achilles problem. January signing Danilo had started that game at the City Ground, only to be withdrawn at half-time after picking up a booking.
To add to their injury woes, the Reds lost centre-backs Scott McKenna and Willy Boly to hamstring problems after seven minutes at Craven Cottage. Their 2-0 defeat in the capital brought an end to a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
"Jesse was feeling his knee, so he wasn't available," Cooper told the BBC after the game. "We're really happy with Danilo. He's a young boy, he has come over here and has already been exposed to some good minutes - more than we probably would have planned for at this time."
Shelvey's 'awkward' moment
There was an “awkward” encounter over breakfast when Jonjo Shelvey met Jack Colback as a new teammate first time around.
There would have been no such difficulties to navigate now they are reunited at Nottingham Forest, though. The two midfielders forged a strong bond during their time together at Newcastle United.
Colback left the Magpies to sign for the Reds permanently in 2020, following two loan spells. Shelvey has now made the same move, leaving St James’ Park after seven years to join Forest on deadline day last week.
“When I first went to Newcastle, we’d always had a little bit of, not trouble on the pitch, but a little bit of aggro,” Shelvey recalls. “I went into Newcastle and we sat down having breakfast. I was with my dad and Jack was having breakfast. My dad said, ‘you two are normally kicking lumps out of each other’. I just said, ‘oh, just make it a bit more awkward then, dad!’. We both started laughing and formed a really close relationship on and off the pitch."
Dawson defends 'ugly' Reds
Nottingham Forest hero Michael Dawson believes the arrival of Chris Wood will make the Reds more direct as they look to secure their Premier League status.
The veteran target man arrived from Newcastle United on loan last month with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer if certain conditions are met before the end of the campaign.
Wood was part of the team which battled to a precious 1-0 win over Leeds United last weekend thanks to Brennan Johnson's early strike. Ahead of today’s game at Fulham, Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling branded the win “ugly” as he asked pundit Dawson for his thoughts on the Reds’ revival under Steve Cooper.
Stelling said: “Daws, you’re Nottingham Forest. They’ve learnt to win ugly, haven't they? And oh boy, was it ugly against Leeds.”
Dawson defended the approach, replying: “Steve Cooper won’t mind. Of course he wants to play the right way, passing the ball out from the back. But early on in the season he wasn’t getting the results by playing the way he played that got [them] to the Premier League."
Secret to success
Nottingham Forest Women travel to the New Bucks Head Stadium on Sunday in the FA Women's National League Premier division for a top-of-the-table clash against defending champions Wolves.
Forest are looking to extend their six-point lead with another win to push for the play-off spot and a chance for promotion into the Barclays Women's Championship next season.
Ahead of Sunday's game, Nottingham Forest manager Andy Cook told Nottingham Post: “Ultimately, it doesn't matter who we play. We can only try and get three points, that's the secret, I suppose...”
Wolves lost out to Southampton in the play-offs last summer and were trying to repeat their impeccable form from the last campaign but currently have 25 points from 11 games and a game in hand while Forest lead the way on 31 points from 12 games and a whopping plus-36 goal difference.
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