Nottingham Forest v Newcastle United injury news as 13 ruled out and 3 doubts

Nottingham Forest are back in action on Friday night when they face top-four hopefuls Newcastle United at the City Ground.

Steve Cooper’s men are looking over their shoulders again after weekend which saw Forest lose and the vast majority of other struggling sides pick up points.

As a result, Forest are now just two points ahead of the drop zone, and it’s clear they are going to need to put together a strong end of the season if they are to avoid relegation at the first time of asking, with a number of teams below them now picking up form.

Unfortunately for the Reds, it doesn’t get much easier this weekend, with Champions League hopefuls Newcastle in town. The Magpies are just four points off the top four and with two games in hand, so they arrive in the East Midlands with plenty to play for.

Ahead of the clash, Cooper has provided the latest on Brennan Johnson following the striker’s injury.

“Brennan has had a scan; when you have a scan it tells you something, but you also have to treat the player,” said Cooper. “It’s unlikely Brennan will be involved at the weekend, but there’s a small chance and we want to give him every chance to see if he is available.

“If he is, then great, we will use him. If not, then it is one of those things. We are not completely ruling him out but when you walk off with a bit of a muscle injury it can take a little bit longer than a week to recover, so we’ll see.

“If he’s not available, of course it would be disappointing, but these things do happen. We would love all of our players to be available and vying to be in the team. On that front, it hasn’t gone so well in the last couple of months, but like I always say, you have to focus on the guys who are available to play. They get maximum attention from myself and the staff.”

Elsewhere, Ryan Yates is working his way back and will be listed as a serious doubt, while Moussa Niakhate and Cheikhou Kouyate are back from hamstring injuries, but they are yet to feature since returning.

Taiwo Awoniyi remains out for Forest, while Chris Wood is also out after picking up an injury last weekend but is also ineligible to face his parent club. Wayne Hennessey is a doubt, also picking up an injury last weekend.

Midfielder Gustavo Scarp is also unlikely to feature after missing the last few games. He lost almost £1m in a cryptocurrency scam and has returned to Brazil to try and resolve the matter.

Meanwhile Omar Richards, Willy Boly, Scott McKenna, Dean Henderson and Giulian Biancone are all out with long-term issues.

As for Newcastle, Howe has already confirmed that Anthony Gordon is absent. He said earlier this week: “It was a strange one because after the game (at Man City) there was no sign of an injury. It’s one of those that got worse on the day of the game, it was from a tackle, and when he came in, it was swollen up.

“He had a scan and we were hoping we could get away with it and he would be alright, but unfortunately not. He’ll probably miss two games (including the win over Wolves), and I’m not sure whether he’ll be back after the international break. We hope so, but that’s not 100 percent certain.”

Elsewhere, Emil Krafth is out long term, while Joelinton is suspended for this one.