Boss Steve Cooper is keen for injured duo Max Lowe and Keinan Davis to feel part of the Nottingham Forest set-up as they continue their recovery from injury.
Both players are on loan at the City Ground, with Lowe from Sheffield United and Davis from Aston Villa. But rather than return to their parent clubs, they are doing their rehabilitation with the Reds as they make their way back from groin and hamstring problems respectively.
Lowe has been sidelined since mid-March and is still some way off a return, according to Cooper. His teammate, meanwhile, was forced off towards the end of last week’s defeat at Luton Town and is expected to be out of action for four to five weeks.
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The pair have played key roles in Forest’s promotion push. And although they are currently not able to have an influence on the pitch, Cooper says they remain central to what the squad are trying to achieve.
The Reds head coach joked: “Keinan has been a bit chirpy today! He’s trying to pick loads of players for the best teams in the world and all that sort of stuff! I’ve had to walk out of the medical room today because he was waffling a bit, to be honest!
“They want to finish the job here, whatever that looks like. They’ve been a big part of it.
“It’s great that they still want to be here, that they want to carry on doing their rehab here. We want to continue to work with them - this is not the ideal way, but it’s great to see them on a daily basis. We just need to shut Keinan up a little bit, to be honest!
“They are part of it. They are both popular lads. They’ve got friends here - you can see that. You see it around the food tables and in and amongst the social areas. That’s good to see.
“At the moment they are our players, so we treat them like that. Long may it continue. It would be better if they were on the grass, but it’s not to be at the moment.”
