Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo will have to work around the devastating absence of Morgan Gibbs-White for Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham at the City Ground.
The England international picked up two bookings in last weekend's fiery 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion and is banned for at least one match, although there are fears that his punishment could be increased to two games.
Gibbs-White will join Danilo (ankle), Ibrahim Sangare (hamstring) and Willy Boly (calf) on the sidelines for Saturday's battle at the very least, and Santo is also awaiting his fate after being charged with improper conduct in the Brighton draw, where he and Fabian Hurzeler were also dismissed.
In terms of replacements for Gibbs-White, Santo could err on the side of caution and bring Ryan Yates back into the midfield alongside James Ward-Prowse, allowing Elliot Anderson to operate in the number 10 position.
The ex-Newcastle United starlet would link arms with Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi in the final third if that is the case, but Ramon Sosa - scorer of Forest's second last weekend - is pushing to displace Anthony Elanga.
With only four goals conceded in the 2024-25 Premier League season so far, Santo should also see no need to alter the backline of Ola Aina, Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic and Alex Moreno in front of Matz Sels, who is still keeping the 6ft 8in Carlos Miguel at bay.
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Yates, Ward-Prowse; Sosa, Anderson, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
> Click here to see how Fulham could line up for this clash
Ben Knapton
