Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd team & injury news - key player doubt, 11 unavailable & Jesse Lingard update

Nottingham Forest may be without one of their key players on Wednesday when they face Manchester United.

The Red Devils travel to the City Ground for the first time in almost 24 years for the midweek Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, with the reverse fixture to be played next week at Old Trafford. But Forest could have to navigate the challenge of Erik ten Hag’s side without Ryan Yates.

The midfielder has missed just three matches all season but was replaced in each of the last two through illness.  “He was just feeling a bit unwell during the game [against Bournemouth on Saturday],” said Steve Cooper ahead of the game.

“Whether there’s a bit of a virus going on or what not, we’re getting to the bottom of. Whether he will be available for Wednesday, we don’t know yet. Everyone else was fine from the weekend, so we’re as we were.”

Meanwhile, there’s better news on Jesse Lingard, who could return to face his former club on Wednesday. The 30-year-old picked up a hamstring injury when the sides last met on 27 December and hasn’t played since, but Copper confirmed he has been back in training this week.

“He [Lingard] wasn’t quite ready at the weekend to start, but definitely ready to be involved, although he didn’t get a chance to contribute because the game went a certain way,” explained the Forest boss. “He’s trained since, so he’s definitely up for selection. What we decide to go with, we’ll see, but he’s back in the mix.”

Forest are set to be without the injured Dean Henderson and Taiwo Awoniyi for the game, as well as defenders Omar Richards and Moussa Niakhate. Long-term absentees Cheikhou Kouyate and Giulian Biancone complete what is a lengthy injury list for the East Midlands club.

As for United, Ten Hag confirmed in Tuesday’s pre-match press conference that Diogo Dalot, Jadon Sacho and Anthony Martial won’t be available for the game, while Axel Tuanzebe still lacks the fitness to be involved. Donny van de Beek remains out until the summer with a knee injury.

Doubts: Yates (Forest)

Ruled out: Henderson, Richards, Niakhate, Biancone, Kouyate, Awoniyi (Forest); Dalot, Tuanzebe, Sancho, Van de Beek, Martial (United)