Injury rules Grabban out of Reds’ trip to Hatters

TAYLOR SET TO GET NOD AGAIN AFTER SCORING AGAINST RAMS

NOTTINGHAM Forest will be without Lewis Grabban for their trip to face Luton Town tonight because of injury.

But boss Chris Hughton is pleased to see the striker remain with the Reds, following speculation about his future at the weekend.

Former Forest head coach Sabri Lamouchi wanted to link up with Grabban again, having taken charge at Qatari side Al Duhail.

The front man was understood to be keen on the move initially but agreed to stay at the City Ground following talks with the club.

He will, however, miss out against the Hatters tonight (7.45pm) with a hip problem which saw him brought off at half-time in Friday night’s 1-1 draw at home against Derby County.

It will mean Lyle Taylor is almost certain to start at Kenilworth Road, having bagged his first goal in the Garibaldi in the East Midlands derby.

“Lewis’ hip is still bothering him and is a genuine injury that will see him miss the Luton game,” Hughton told the Post.

And on the interest in Grabban, he added: “When you get the rumours that we have, I can only ever deal with what’s fact, and what I have is a group of players to work with and to pick from.

“Lewis has been an important member of this team and scored important goals.

“You want that to continue. “He’s a committed player and very much part of a squad that we want to do well.”

The Reds will once again also be without injured trio Joe Worrall, Tyler Blackett and Fouad Bachirou at Luton.

Worrall is ruled out with a broken foot, midfielder Bachirou has a hamstring injury and Blackett is sidelined with an unspecified problem.

The Reds have four more games before the next round of international fixtures, with Hughton hopeful the trio will return after that.

“They are not players who are going to be available in the next couple of weeks,” he said.

“Even though they are all making good progress, it’s likely to be after the international break.”

There was no Jack Colback in the matchday squad against the Rams, after the midfielder had started Hughton’s first two games in the dugout.

“It was a choice,” the manager said of that decision.

“We’ve got a series of games and what that enables me to do is to pick certain players for certain games and rotate the squad. “He’s fine and is fit and well. “I’m still learning about him. “I know Jack as a player and know his career, but until you actually work with somebody you don’t know them as a player.

“It’s still for me, in this period of time, to determine his strengths and where he can do better.

“As regards him getting up to that level, that’s our responsibility, as managers and coaches, to do that with him and every other player.

“We have a lot of games and Jack, and every other player, will be very much involved.”