The dilemmas facing Chris Hughton at Nottingham Forest ahead of Cardiff on Good Friday
By George Harbey
Tuesday 30th March 2021
Nottingham Forest will be hoping to start a hectic Easter period strongly as they prepare to take on Cardiff City in South Wales on Good Friday.
The Reds have had time to recharge their batteries and gear up for their final eight league games, where they will hope to secure their Championship status for another year.
Chris Hughton’s side are winless in their last six games, but took confidence heading into the international break after a valiant second half display against Brentford, where they earned a hard-fought point at Brentford.
The task will now be for Forest to put a few more points on the board so that they can mathematically put their relegation fears to bed once and for all, starting with a trip to Cardiff on Good Friday.
With a majority of the squad having nearly a fortnight to rest and recuperate, here, we take a look at a couple of dilemmas Hughton may be facing ahead of the trip across the M5 to South Wales…
Worrall back in?
Worrall has missed the last three games through injury after he cracked a rib in the 1-0 defeat to Luton. He played against Watford a few days later unknown to the problem, but Chris Hughton has previously said that he should be back available after the international break.
Worrall will be assessed ahead of the trip to Cardiff, and a decision has to be made on whether he is fit enough to regain his place in the side.
If he is fit enough to do so, then there is a decision to be made on who misses out. Tobias Figueiredo is more likely to drop out, as the Portuguese centre-half continues to divide opinions on a weekly basis.
But Scott McKenna, who is currently on international duty with Scotland, has only just returned from an injury himself, so with two games in the space of three days, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him miss out in South Wales.
Bong or Ribeiro?
Yuri Ribeiro will be keen to prove his worth to Hughton with his contract set to run out at the end of the season.
It has been a frustrating campaign for the left-back, who has failed to replicate the form he displayed under Sabri Lamouchi last season.
He has jostled with Gaetan Bong for a place in the first-team – Hughton has a lot of trust in the latter, after he was a consistent performer for him at Brighton.
Bong endured a mixed afternoon at Brentford last time out. The first half was one to forget, as he gave away a penalty for pulling down Ivan Toney and struggled to cope with Bryan Mbeumo’s power.
But the second half saw him make a vital block to deny the Bees, and it was his cross which led to Filip Krovinovic slotting home from inside the area.
Against another promotion-chasing team in Cardiff, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bong start a
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