Nottingham Forest have one more friendly to go before the winter break comes to a close and the competitive action resumes.
The Reds will head to Valencia on Friday to take on the Spanish outfit at their Mestalla Stadium (6.30pm kick-off UK time). It will be Forest’s fourth, and final, run-out having already faced Stoke City, Atromitos and Olympiacos during the World Cup hiatus.
Head coach Steve Cooper viewed last Saturday’s meeting with the latter as a step up in preparations ahead of the season’s restart. And the same applies to Friday night’s clash, with a strong line-up likely to be named.
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Cooper will no doubt make a number of changes during the game, just as he did in Greece, to spread out the match minutes. But having had mixed feelings about his team’s performance against Olympiacos, he will be keen to see a better display this time around.
Brennan Johnson was the only one of the returning World Cup players to be involved at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Wayne Hennessey, Neco Williams and Remo Freuler have linked up with the group again this week, so could feature in Spain, but Cheikhou Kouyate is facing an extended period on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Hennessey will be between the posts in Forest’s first Premier League game back, as Dean Henderson is ineligible to play against parent club Manchester United. There is a Carabao Cup tie away to Blackburn Rovers to come before then, but Cooper may still want to give the Wales international a run-out at the Mestalla.
Serge Aurier was forced off in the closing minutes at the weekend, with the Reds manager saying he was suffering from fatigue. It could be that if Forest do not want to take a risk with him, it allows Williams to come in at right-back.
Reds fans got their first glimpse of newest arrival Gustavo Scarpa when he came off the bench in the 1-0 defeat to Olympiacos. If he is involved against Valencia it seems likely it will be from off the bench again, given he cannot make his official debut until his contract starts in January.
Predicted XI to face Valencia: Henderson; Williams, Worrall, Boly, Lodi; Freuler, Yates, Mangala; Gibbs-White; Johnson, Awoniyi.
How should Forest line up against Valencia? Have your say in the comments below
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