Morgan Gibbs-White is not included in the Nottingham Forest squad to face Arsenal today as he continues to struggle with the lingering impact of an ankle injury he sustained at Chelsea in early October.
The midfielder had started the last two Premier League matches for Forest, against West Ham United and Newcastle, and he had travelled with the squad for today’s game at The Emirates.
But head coach Nuno Espirito Santo says Gibbs-White, who had been feeling the injury on the pitch, was not fit enough to be involved.
“He’s not in the right moment. We’ve been taking care of him since the knock in the Chelsea game, he has been trying hard, but he’s not in the position to do it today,” said Nuno in a pre-match interview with Sky.
Forest are also without Elliot Anderson in the capital, with the former Newcastle midfielder feeling the impact of a niggling foot injury that he has had for several weeks, in a similar fashion to Gibbs-White. Nuno had warned that he was a doubt for the game today.
Forest have given a rare start to Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi, with Chris Wood moved to the bench after flying halfway around the globe for international duty with New Zealand, where he scored a total of five goals in two games, in an 8-1 win over Vanuatu and an 8-0 success over Samoa.
It is just Awoniyi’s third start of the campaign – although he did score here last season.
