Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Tom Leach

The stat that shows why Nottingham Forest's Joao Carvalho and Lewis Grabban must start together against Swansea City

Lewis Grabban looks set to make his return to the Nottingham Forest squad this weekend, with the striker back in training ahead of the visit of Swansea City.

The forward has bagged 15 league goals already this season in the Garibaldi, making him the Reds' highest scorer, but has missed the last six weeks with an Achilles injury.

Should Grabban be looking to return with a bang this weekend, he may need Martin O'Neill to hand teammate Joao Carvalho a start.

Eight remarkable statistics in Nottingham Forest's season so far  

The £13m attacking midfielder has only started once since O'Neill took charge, in his side's 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa at the City Ground.

Remarkably, despite his lack of recent game time, no player has directly contributed to Grabban's impressive goal tally more than Carvalho.

Joao Carvalho celebrates with Lewis Grabban after the striker's goal (Dan Westwell)

As a pair, they are the joint-second most productive assist and goal scorer double-act in the division, behind Birmingham City's Che Adams and Lukas Jutkiewicz, and Brentford's Neal Maupay and Said Benrahma.

Carvalho has played the killer pass to slide Grabban in on goal on four occasions this season, just one shy of the league's best, according to whoscored.com.

The midfielder's six assists in total puts him just three behind Forest's best provider, Joe Lolley.

Saturday's opponents Swansea will have attacking combinations of their own at the City Ground.

Oliver McBurnie has bagged 16 goals himself already this season, but it is attacking midfield duo Dan James and Bersant Celina that have had tongues wagging at the Liberty Stadium.

The duo have been key to McBurnie's success in South Wales and could prove to be a real threat for O'Neill's side.

The video that will excite Nottingham Forest fans ahead of Reds' return to action

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.