Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has at least one big selection call to make for Wednesday night’s Championship clash with Coventry City.
The Reds hit the ground running after the international break as they thumped Blackpool 4-1 on Saturday. Brennan Johnson starred with a brace, while Philip Zinckernagel and Sam Surridge also found the net at Bloomfield Road.
With nine matches left, Forest are one point below the play-off spots and have at least one game in hand on most of their rivals. But Cooper has some dilemmas when it comes to picking his starting XI against the Sky Blues.
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The biggest decision will be over who starts between the posts. “It 100 percent gives me a decision to make. But it’s a good decision, and a good situation,” Cooper said.
Ethan Horvath had cemented his place in the team prior to the two-week hiatus, having taken his chance to impress when Brice Samba was suspended. But the quick turnaround from being on duty with America saw him back on the bench against the Seasiders.
Samba has come to his team’s rescue before, and he made some good saves at the weekend. He will certainly have given his manager food for thought.
There is also plenty for Cooper to mull over at the opposite end of the pitch. Lewis Grabban made his comeback from injury when he came off the bench in the north west. And Surridge caught the eye with a clinical finish to round off the visitors’ scoring.
Leaving Keinan Davis out of the starting line-up would be tough, though. He might not have got on the scoresheet on Saturday, but he has been excellent throughout his loan spell and was a real handful again.
It remains to be seen if Grabban is ready to start a game; the Reds will want to manage him carefully after a lengthy period on the sidelines. If and when he is, however, there is always the option of including both him and Davis or Surridge in the team, with Grabban taking on a deeper role.
Elsewhere, Joe Lolley could have considered himself hard done by to be back among the substitutes. The winger had been excellent in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool, when the hosts had gone with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
But with Scott McKenna making an earlier than expected return from injury, Forest reverted to three at the back against Blackpool, with Lolley missing out. Nevertheless, he was bright from off the bench - and with a hectic run of fixtures ahead, Cooper might consider rotating his squad a little in the coming games.
Predicted Forest XI: Horvath; Worrall, Figueiredo, McKenna; Spence, Yates, Garner, Colback; Johnson, Davis, Zinckernagel.
