Lyle Taylor hoping to earn start for Nottingham Forest

Posted Friday, October 22, 2021 by PA

Nottingham Forest forward Lyle Taylor will hope his midweek heroics are enough to earn him a start at home to Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship on Sunday.

The attacker scored twice after being summoned off the bench to secure a 2-1 win at Bristol City on Tuesday and boss Steve Cooper now has to decide if he plays the 31-year-old from the off.

Fellow forward Lewis Grabban has been in great form but did need to have his fitness managed last month due to a minor thigh injury and could find himself rotated after starting the previous two games this week.

Arsenal loanee Jordi Osei-Tutu (hamstring) remains sidelined along with Loic Mbe Soh (thigh) and Rodrigo Ely (ankle) while September signings Braian Ojeda and Mohamed Drager continue to work towards their debuts having recently featured for the Under-23s.

Fulham will need to check on midfielder Harrison Reed after he was forced off against Cardiff with a calf injury.

Reed was replaced by captain Tom Cairney, who marked his first appearance in 10 months with a goal and may start at the City Ground.

Fabio Carvalho could be in contention too after manager Marco Silva revealed at the beginning of the week he had recovered from Covid-19 and was starting to fully get over the virus.

While Carvalho may be part of the travelling party, Joe Bryan and Ivan Cavaleiro will need to be assessed after they sat out Wednesday’s triumph over Cardiff with knocks.