Watch live on Sky Sports Football Red Button and the Sky Sports app from 7.40pm on Wednesday; Kick-off is at 7.45pm
Tuesday 22 October 2019 18:23, UK
Nottingham Forest face Hull in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday. Coverage gets under way live on Sky Sports Football Red Button at 7.40pm; Kick-off 7.45pm.
Nottingham Forest striker Lewis Grabban is hoping to return to the starting line-up. Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi started with Grabban on the bench in Saturday's defeat at Wigan and made four other changes as his side face three games in a week.
Centre-half Michael Dawson (calf), plus midfielders Ryan Yates (knee) and Alfa Semedo (back) are closing in on returns and will be monitored. Defenders Chema, Yuri Ribeiro, striker Joao Carvalho and winger Albert Adomah are all pushing for recalls.
Hull boss Grant McCann has no new injury concerns as his side bid to bounce back from successive defeats. McCann is expected to be without Jordy de Wijs again due to an ankle injury which kept him out of Saturday's home loss to QPR, so Ryan Tafazolli could continue at centre-back.
Midfielder Jon Toral (hamstring) made his first appearance since the end of August off the bench at the weekend and it remains to be seen if he is handed a start. Striker Josh Magennis and midfield pair Dan Batty and Leonardo Da Silva Lopes are also pushing for recalls.
Forest's march towards the Championship summit continues in earnest, with Saturday's 1-0 reverse at Wigan just the second league defeat of the season for Lamouchi's men. Prior to that, during the transition from September into October, they had beaten Stoke 3-2, drawn 1-1 with Blackburn and overcome Brentford 1-0, too.
Hull have lost their last two games - 3-2 against QPR and 3-0 against Huddersfield - and continue to languish at the bottom end of the Championship table going into Wednesday's game. That's in spite of recent convincing wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Luton.
You could have given Nottingham Forest a week and they still probably wouldn't have scored at Wigan on Sunday. The DW Stadium is a tough place to go, but Sabri Lamouchi's side were really poor and the decision to leave Lewis Grabban on the bench was an odd one.
It could easily have been a blip, but Forest's previous run of good form may not have been quite what it seemed. Winning by the odd goal, especially when they are scored by Ben Watson, is an unsustainable formula for promotion.
Nottingham Forest haven't won three consecutive league matches against Hull since December 1955.
Hull have won five of their last six away league matches against Nottingham Forest (W5 D0 L1), although they lost 3-0 in this exact fixture last season.
Nottingham Forest have won 11 home league matches in 2019 - three more than they managed in the entirety of 2018 (eight).
Hull have lost their last two league games, conceding three goals in each match. They last lost three in a row back in April.
Nottingham Forest's last two home Championship matches have been 1-0 wins with 56th minute winning goals scored by Ben Watson in both games.
Kamil Grosicki has been involved in six goals in his last 10 away league appearances for Hull City (4 goals, 2 assists).
Nottingham Forest weren't great at Wigan on Sunday as they fell to their first defeat since the opening day of the season, and they will want to bounce back quickly.
Hull have shown promise at times this season but they still look over-reliant on Jarrod Bowen or Kamil Grosicki providing a moment of magic for them to win a game. Forest should bounce back here.
David Prutton predicts: 2-1 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
