Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi hopes injuries to midfielders Alfa Semedo and John Bostock are not too serious.
The duo missed Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup defeat at Arsenal after picking up knocks in training ahead of the third round tie.
Semedo had come off the bench in the Reds’ previous outing, against Barnsley at the weekend, while his team-mate was an unused substitute in that game.
It left Lamouchi with limited options against the Gunners, with one eye also on Friday night’s trip to face Stoke City in the league.
Tiago Silva and Brennan Johnson took up the central midfield roles at the Emirates Stadium in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Samba Sow on the bench.
Although Semedo and Bostock, in particular, might not necessarily be in contention to start against the Potters regardless, Lamouchi is still hoping they will not be sidelined for long.
“I hope they are not too serious,” said the Frenchman. “I was surprised to have these two injured.
“We will check how they are today.
“Of course we don’t have a lot of choice, but as I have always said, we don’t have problems - we will find solutions.
“We will not play Arsenal every week.
“My team need to learn. It was cruel for them on Tuesday night and cruel for our fans because we had a lot of them. Five goals was too much.”
Lamouch made six changes against the Premier League giants, including bringing in Chema and Tobias Figueiredo in the centre of the defence.
It was only a second appearance in the Garibaldi for the former, and a third start of the season for Figueiredo.
“I just want to focus on Friday and the next game in the Championship, because that is our goal,” Lamouchi added.
“The cup was just one other ambition and a chance for some players to show me something.
“We played with the right attitude, it was just the quality and that Arsenal had played together longer than us.
“We need time. Tuesday night was only game number 11 of the season.
“When you start with Chema and Tobias together for the first time, it is difficult.
“We didn’t do enough to disturb Arsenal.
“If you defend a lot and defend well, you need to do more than that. Against a team like that, if you miss just one chance, it is enough.”
