Morgan Gibbs-White is fit and available for Nottingham Forest's Premier League trip to Liverpool on Saturday, with Ryan Yates also back in contention, but Ibrahim Sangare will miss the match through injury.
The England midfielder started the late 1-0 home defeat by Leeds on the opening day, playing the full 90 minutes but suffering knee pain after initially twisting his ankle. He was subsequently not risked as Forest hosted the same opposition in the Carabao Cup second round on Tuesday night, with Oliver Glasner's side losing 2-0 at the City Ground.
Glasner confirms availability
Glasner confirmed during Friday's pre-match press conference that Gibbs-White was now fit and available for selection. The same is true of Forest club captain Ryan Yates, who has not played yet this term due to an unspecified issue that ruled him out of their final pre-season friendly against French club Brest.
However, fellow midfielder Ibrahim Sangare will not feature against Liverpool after sustaining a small calf injury during training this week. He will join long-term absentee Nicolo Savona on the sidelines, though Neco Williams - a transfer target for Tottenham - is fine following a knock suffered against Leeds in midweek.
Sangare out, Delap in contention
“Morgan is available, and Ryan Yates is available, which is good news,” Glasner said on Friday. “But Ibrahim has picked up a minor calf injury in Wednesday’s training session and will miss tomorrow’s game. But the other two are available.”
Italian full-back Savona has not played since January and underwent knee surgery in March, with Glasner revealing last week that he had suffered a setback in his recovery and was not as far along as they had hoped.
Forest could hand a debut to new signing Liam Delap against Liverpool after the striker completed a club-record £50million switch from Chelsea earlier this week.
Delap signing explained
“We were in talks for many days to be honest, we tried to convince him and obviously we could convince Liam that Nottingham Forest is the right club, at the right moment for where he is in his career,” Glasner said of signing Delap.
“Also I think, before he picked Chelsea, everybody in the Premier League wanted Liam after his amazing season at Ipswich.
“When we heard that it was possible [to sign Delap] and we were looking for a striker, with physicality and especially pace and runs in behind. We had other profiles, with a top, top striker in the box with Chris Wood, a proven Premier League goalscorer.
“We are playing more with a number nine, with Igor [Jesus]. We were looking for this profile and Liam was the fit. We are the perfect club for him and I am convinced that he is the perfect player for us.”
