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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Sarah Clapson

Nottingham Forest duo's absence against Fulham explained as injury list grows

Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper says Jesse Lingard was not included in the squad to face Fulham due to an injury concern, while Danilo was left out for selection reasons.

Lingard was an unused substitute against Leeds United last weekend, having recovered from an Achilles problem. January signing Danilo had started that game at the City Ground, only to be withdrawn at half-time after picking up a booking.

To add to their injury woes, the Reds lost centre-backs Scott McKenna and Willy Boly to hamstring problems after seven minutes at Craven Cottage. Their 2-0 defeat in the capital brought an end to a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

READ MORE: How the Reds rated against Fulham

READ MORE: Forest face nervous wait after double injury blow against Fulham

"Jesse was feeling his knee, so he wasn't available," Cooper told the BBC after the game. "We're really happy with Danilo. He's a young boy, he has come over here and has already been exposed to some good minutes - more than we probably would have planned for at this time.

"We're just going to have to trust the process with him and get him to the level. He's a young player.

"I explained that to him. I said, 'listen, you're in a really good place for how few weeks you've been here and the amount of many minutes you've played'. He's learning.

"We have options now. We were away from home and you try to pick a team, and think about changes which might be needed in the game, to get a result. Players will fall in and out of that.

"We're really happy with Danilo and his settling-in period, which he is still going through. We're going to work with him, because that's what we do with young players."

Would you like to have seen Danilo in the squad? Have your say in the comments below

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