Head coach Steve Cooper has named his Nottingham Forest team to face Bournemouth in this afternoon’s crunch clash.
The Reds make the trip to the south coast on the back of two successive wins in the Premier League. Brennan Johnson’s brace clinched a 2-0 victory over Leicester City at the City Ground last time out, while Forest had beaten Southampton prior to that.
Their triumph at St Mary’s was the first time they had picked up three points on the road this season, and Cooper’s men will be aiming to follow that up with a positive result at the Vitality Stadium today. Ahead of kick-off, they are 13th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.
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During the week, Cooper added to his squad as Brazilian midfielder Danilo and on-loan Newcastle United striker Chris Wood put pen to paper. The latter comes straight into the XI as one of three changes to last weekend’s line-up.
Wayne Hennessey starts between the posts, with Dean Henderson having joined the list of absentees due to a thigh problem. But there is a return for Willy Boly, who has overcome an ankle injury, leaving Scott McKenna to drop to the bench, along with Gustavo Scarpa.
Boly lines up alongside Joe Worrall in the centre of the defence, with Serge Aurier and Renan Lodi keeping their places on either flank. Ryan Yates has overcome a whack to the face to retain his place in midfield, alongside Remo Freuler and Orel Mangala.
Morgan Gibbs-White will support Wood and Brennan Johnson in attack. Danilo is included on the bench, along with Jesse Lingard, who is involved for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury against former club Manchester United. Jordan Smith, Steve Cook, Neco Williams, Jack Colback and Sam Surridge make up the list of substitutes.
Forest: Hennessey; Aurier, Worrall, Boly, Lodi; Freuler, Yates, Mangala; Gibbs-White; Johnson, Wood. Subs: Smith, Cook, Williams, Colback, Lingard, Surridge, McKenna, Danilo, Scarpa.
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