Striker Lewis Grabban is an injury doubt for Nottingham Forest’s trip to face Barnsley on Wednesday night.
The 33-year-old took a knock to the thigh early on in Saturday’s draw at home to Millwall, with the question mark over his fitness highlighting a lack of options up front for the Reds.
New boss Steve Cooper doesn’t envisage it being a long-term problem for Grabban, but getting more goals from his side remains a key issue to solve.
Cooper hasn’t ruled out turning to the free agent market for help in that respect. However, he has stressed no “short-term decisions” will be made.
Duo absent
Nottingham Forest will continue to be without summer signings Braian Ojeda and Mohamed Drager for their next two games.
But the pair are now training with their teammates, and have been given a special programme to follow to help get them up to speed.
Midfielder Ojeda and defender Drager have so far been unavailable for selection since their deadline day moves to the City Ground.
They travelled to places on the government’s red list while on duty for their countries during the last international break, meaning they had to complete 10 days of self-isolation upon their return.
Barnsley blow
Barnsley boss Markus Schopp will be without two of his right-hand men by his side against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.
Assistant coaches Tonda Eckert and Joseph Laumann will both serve a touchline suspension and have been fined for breaching Football Association rules in a match against Stoke City earlier this month.
Eckert and Laumann will miss three and two games respectively, starting immediately, leaving Schopp to cope without their help against the Reds.
A statement from the FA read: “Stoke City FC and Barnsley FC have been fined £10,000 and £8,000 respectively for a breach of FA Rule E20.1 that occurred during their EFL Championship game on Wednesday, 15 September, 2021.
Selection dilemma
Boss Steve Cooper faces a selection conundrum in only his second match in charge of Nottingham Forest.
Against Millwall at the weekend, Cooper stuck with the XI which had seen off Huddersfield Town under Steven Reid’s caretaker stewardship.
He plumped for the 3-4-3 formation which worked to great effect against the Terriers, and claimed a point in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.
For Wednesday night’s trip to Barnsley, though, the new manager could be forced into at least one change as he goes in search of his first victory.
