Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira is unsure whether talisman Morgan Gibbs-White will be available to feature again this season.
The 26-year-old was named on the bench for Forest’s Europa League semi-final defeat to Aston Villa but did not feature after suffering a facial injury following a clash of heads with Robert Sanchez in last Monday’s win over Chelsea.
Gibbs-White wore a protective face mask in the pre-match warm-up but there was never any indication he would come off the bench at Villa Park as his side failed to book their spot in the final.
Asked whether Gibbs-White will feature again this season, Pereira replied: “I cannot answer because I don’t know.
“I don’t know about Morgan, I don’t know about Ola (Aina), Callum (Hudson-Odoi) has finished the season. I don’t know about Murillo. I think Dan (Ndoye) maybe can come back. (Today) is the day to understand the situation.”
Forest will look to bounce back from their European disappointment by securing their Premier League survival with a victory against Newcastle at the City Ground on Sunday.
Pereira added: “It’s difficult today but tomorrow is another day. Maybe they need tomorrow to come back again and recover. We need to compete against Newcastle, very important game in the battle of relegation and especially mentally, we need to come back.
“It’s a day to come back again. We know our supporters playing at home and we will try our best to get the points and finish the season.”
Nobel Mendy bid prepared
With Premier League safety almost secure ahead of the clash with Newcastle, Forest are starting to make plans for a summer transfer window under Pereira, which will be the manager’s first chance to make changes to his squad.
The Reds have been linked with Rayo Vallecano defender Nobel Mendy for weeks, having sent scouts to watch the UEFA Conference League finalist in action, and are now preparing a bid for his services.
Mendy is currently on loan from Real Betis, with Vallecano set to make that deal permanent for an already agreed figure of around £2m.
While they are in no rush to sell the 21 year-old centre-back, who can also play on the left, Forest’s bid is expected to be in the region of £16m, which would be enough to test their resolve, Football FanCast sources understand.
Mendy, for his part, is open to the idea of playing in England and wants to test himself at the highest level.
The versatile defender, who is now a full Senegal international, has started 20 times in La Liga this season, scoring twice.
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