Latest Nottingham Forest news as Sean Dyche's Reds take on Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground
Head coach Sean Dyche has revealed goalkeeper Matz Sels was ‘close’ to getting the nod to feature for Nottingham Forest against Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.
The Belgian has missed out on the Reds’ match-day squad for the second successive game due to a groin problem. No.2 John Victor will start between the posts at the City Ground (2pm kick-off) for his Premier League debut.
Sels did not travel to the Netherlands in midweek for Forest’s Europa League clash with Utrecht. John was in goal for that one as Dyche’s side clinched a 2-1 victory at the Stadion Galgenwaard.
Asked about Sels’ absence this afternoon, Dyche told Sky Sports ahead of kick-off: "It was close. Touch and go.
“Everyone knows we've had a big injury list. We just felt with this rest coming off eight days, which is unusual for us since I've been at the club, we've got to use that wisely and make sure he's 100 per cent, rather than risk."
After today’s match, the Reds are next in action a week on Monday. They will make the trip to the capital to take on Fulham on December 22 for their final outing before Christmas.
Dyche has had a significant injury list to contend with of late. Midfielder Ryan Yates is now facing a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring problem in last weekend’s defeat to Everton, while Chris Wood, Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina remain out of action.
However, some players made their comebacks from stints on the sidelines in midweek. Oleksandr Zinchenko and Douglas Luiz were both in the starting XI, while Dilane Bakwa was an unused substitute.
Dyche has made eight changes to his line-up from Thursday evening. Nicolo Savona, Nikola Milenkovic, Neco Williams, Ibrahim Sangare, Elliot Anderson, Omari Hutchinson, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus are in for Zach Abbott, Morato, Zinchenko, Luiz, Nicolas Dominguez, Dan Ndoye, James McAtee and Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Forest team vs Spurs: John; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus. Subs: Gunn, Morato, Luiz, Ndoye, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Zinchenko, Abbott.