Nottingham Forest expect Morgan Gibbs-White back for Saturday's visit of Ipswich Town, a game that already has the feel of something bigger than a seventh-versus-whatever fixture in October. Oliver Glasner said the England midfielder should be available after sitting out the 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal with a minor muscle problem.
Gibbs-White picked the injury up at Crystal Palace the previous weekend and could not train for most of the following week. He told his manager he was fine to play against Arsenal. Glasner decided otherwise.
Why Glasner would not risk him
"He was very close to playing, and he said he was fine, but he felt it a little bit in a few situations," Glasner explained. "He felt his muscle, and then I decided not to play him. I didn't want to take any risk. We can't allow to lose him, maybe because it was a re-injury for four, five or six weeks, and that's why I decided not to play him."
That is the calculation managers make with muscle injuries, and it is usually the right one. A fortnight lost now is cheaper than six weeks lost in November. Glasner added that he expects Gibbs-White back for the Ipswich game and praised the players who covered for him against the champions.
A defeat that felt worse than it looked
Forest lost to Arsenal's only shot on target, a Noni Madueke effort that took a deflection on its way in. It was a third straight league defeat and it left them in the relegation zone after seven matches. They have now gone five consecutive home games in all competitions without scoring, which is the number that explains their league position better than any other.
Glasner was asked about it five separate times after the match and gave the same answer each time. "It feels very harsh, it feels unfair, but we have to accept it that we are missing some bits," he said. He thought the defensive display was at a high level, and pointed out that conceding from a deflected shot after limiting Arsenal to one effort on target is a cruel way to lose.
His diagnosis is the forward line, not the back four. "What we're missing is that, in every single game, we have our moments, but we don't take them," he said, singling out the period after half-time when Forest created enough to lead. They missed two late chances to take a point.
Saturday has become the game
Glasner is not wavering publicly. "I have no doubts in what we're doing because it's just proven right so often and I'm really confident that we will go to where we want to be," he said. "We are not there here today, but we will be there."
Ipswich at home on Saturday is where that gets tested. Forest have not scored at the City Ground in five games across all competitions, they are in the bottom three, and they are about to face another side with its own reasons to treat this as a must-win. Getting Gibbs-White back will help. It will not, on its own, be enough.
Team news: Morgan Gibbs-White, 26, is expected to return for Nottingham Forest against Ipswich Town on Saturday after missing the 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal with a minor muscle injury picked up at Crystal Palace. Forest have lost three league games in a row, sit in the relegation zone after seven matches and have gone five home games in all competitions without scoring. Igor Jesus and Nicolo Savona were ruled out of the Arsenal game.
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