Nottingham Forest head coach Sabri Lamouchi opted to make 10 changes for his side’s FA Cup third round tie at Chelsea, with the emphasis very much on giving young players an experience of the world’s oldest cup competition.
Lamouchi intimated his desire to give his senior players a rest after a heavy festive fixture schedule, and with Saturday’s trip to Reading looming large on the horizon, the Frenchman has been true to his word.
The only player to keep his place from the New Year’s Day win over Blackburn was Tobias Figueiredo, who was joined in the centre of defence by Michael Dawson taking over the captaincy from Ben Watson, with the midfielder missing out altogether.
Sunday's visit to Chelsea also sees the return of long-term absentees Michael Hefele and Yohan Benalouane.
There was no Brice Samba in the squad, meaning Jordan Smith was handed a first senior start since a Carabao Cup tie against Bury in August 2018 and academy goalkeeper George Shelvey was handed a place on the bench.
There were returns from injury for Carl Jenkinson and Yuri Ribeiro at right and left-back, with Alfa Semedo and Ryan Yates in the holding roles.
Albert Adomah, Joao Carvalho and Alex Mighten were the attacking trio playing behind Brennan Johnson, who featured across London at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup earlier this term.
There was also no place in the squad for the likes of Joe Worrall, Jack Robinson, Matty Cash, Samba Sow, Joe Lolley, Sammy Ameobi, Tiago Silva or leading scorer Lewis Grabban, along with Watson.
On a very young-looking bench was young goalkeeper George Shelvey, Liam Sole, Tyrese Fornah, Yassine En-Nehah and Jordan Gabriel alongside returning duo Benalouane and Hefele.
Forest: Smith, Ribeiro, Figueiredo, Dawson (c), Jenkinson, Semedo, Yates, Adomah, Carvalho, Mighten, Johnson. Subs: Shelvey (GK), Benalouane, Fornah, Sole, En-Neyah, Hefele, Gabriel.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, meanwhile, made nine changes to his starting XI.
