Brighton suffered an agonising penalty shoot-out loss to Manchester United in the semi-final of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium on Sunday and the players have little time to rest and recover ahead of the trip to the City Ground.
De Zerbi's squad was already stretched due to injuries ahead of the Man United clash and the Italian head coach had limited options from the bench against United and may have to call upon some of his fringe players for Wednesday night.
"To progress we have young players with big potential but to improve they must have the possibility to play,” De Zerbi said. “"But if you are 18 or 19 you can make more mistakes on the play. “We will be ready to fight and to play with the ball and try to command the play in another game."
Here's how the walking wounded are shaping up for the match against a Forest team battling to avoid the drop.
5. Tariq Lamptey - knee
The right back has not featured since the 4-0 win against West Ham with a knee issue Photo: GLYN KIRK
6. Joel Veltman - hamstring
Will hope to be back in the starting XI at Forest. Suffered a hamstring issue at Chelsea and was only fit enough for a place on the bench against Man United Photo: GLYN KIRK
7. Adam Webster
Had his issues this season but he was superb at Wembley. Levi Colwill may return to the XI at Forest as De Zerbi manages his minutes carefully for the run-in Photo: Mike Hewitt
8. Jason Steele
Was left out of the win at Chelsea as a precaution due to a minor injury. Sanchez played well at Wembley but De Zerbi will have to decide if Steele is fit enough to return to face Forest. Photo: Mike Hewitt