Big injury blow for Nottingham Forest ahead of Brighton battle but another star man returns

Brazilian defender Murillo – who was among the goalscorers in the 3-0 win at Liverpool last weekend – was substituted after 74 minutes during the Europa League win over Malmo.

Paul Taylor, Nottingham Forest writer at The Athletic, reported: “He was feeling his hamstring before he came off against Malmo on Thursday.”

In better news for Forest, England international Gibbs-White returns after missing the trip to Sweden.

Before that match, manager Sean Dyche said: "Just settling an issue with him [Morgan Gibbs-White], he’s going to miss this one/

“Hopefully it’ll settle down quickly but we’re waiting for news.”

Brighton are sixth in the Premier League but Nottingham Forest have won the last three matches – scoring nine goals – and are unbeaten in five.

Dyche added: "The players have accepted the work we are doing and accepted the practical play.

"They have put in the practice and believed that we can win. We can only guide them in the right direction, and I trust them to deliver which they have been doing."

Nottingham Forest winger Callum Hudson-Odoi said Dyche has ‘reconnected’ the squad after Ange Postecoglou’s ill-fated stint.

Dyche is Forest’s third manager of the season after Nuno Espirito Santo was followed by former Tottenham boss Postecoglou’s disastrous 39-day spell which saw him lose six of his eight games in charge.

“I think Sean and his staff have come in and done an amazing job,” the former Chelsea winger said.

“Since they’ve been here you can tell the energy around the group has changed and everybody’s just working as hard as we can to get the best possible results.

“The energy that he has brought here, the bond and strength that we have had before will come back and you can tell that we are wanting to fight for every game we play in.

“A lot has changed, I think it was a bit scratched a while ago, so I think he’s come in now, and you can tell the bonds, the group has reconnected very well and everybody is just focusing on doing what we know best, which is playing football and enjoying football.

“I think it’s just the connections that were a bit lost for a bit of a while, but now I think everything’s connecting back nicely.

“Everybody’s working hard to do the right things and hopefully keep getting good results.”

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