Alious
As Nottingham Forest prepares for their upcoming fixture against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium this Friday evening, uncertainty surrounds the availability of key attacker Morgan Gibbs-White. The England international’s situation is particularly complex, as he was recently serving a suspension during Forest’s successful 1-0 home victory against Crystal Palace on Monday. However, even if he hadn’t been suspended, an ankle injury sustained during the 1-1 draw with Chelsea before the international break would have kept him sidelined anyway.
While Gibbs-White has now completed his suspension and is technically eligible for the Leicester clash, his fitness remains in question. Forest’s head coach, Nuno Espirito Santo, has provided cautiously optimistic updates about the player’s recovery, describing it as a progressive day-by-day improvement. The final decision about his participation will be made close to kick-off time.
The team’s recent experiences without Gibbs-White have been mixed. His absence was particularly felt during a disappointing 1-0 loss to Fulham last month, where Nuno’s attempt to compensate by switching to a 4-4-2 formation proved unsuccessful. However, Monday’s game showed more promise when summer acquisition Elliot Anderson stepped into Gibbs-White’s number 10 role, delivering an impressive performance that has given the manager an interesting selection dilemma.
The midfield situation is further complicated by various personnel changes. While Nicolas Dominguez has made a strong impression in central midfield, James Ward-Prowse is now available again after serving his own suspension. However, he may find it challenging to immediately reclaim his starting position. The team continues to deal with the absence of both Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare, who remain unavailable due to injuries.
Nuno acknowledged these midfield challenges in his post-match comments, but praised how his available players, particularly Anderson, rose to the occasion despite the team being short-staffed in that area. The management team is also carefully monitoring the entire squad’s recovery following Monday’s physically demanding match, with limited time before their next fixture.
Alious
