Nottm Forest V Wolverhampton at The City Ground : Match Preview

08 March 2013 11:01
Nottm Forest V Wolverhampton - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Halford back in the saddle

Greg Halford will come back into contention for Nottingham Forest when Wolves visit the City Ground.

Halford has missed the last two matches through suspension after collecting his 10th yellow card of the season.

The defender's inclusion is expected to be the only change to manager Billy Davies' squad.

That means Billy Sharp (chest infection) and Darius Henderson (knee) will remain on the sidelines, leaving Dexter Blackstock and Simon Cox as the only available strikers.

Davies, who this week said he would like to bolster his attacking options, may make changes to his starting line-up after seeing Forest labour to a late 1-0 home win over nine-man Ipswich on Tuesday night.

On-loan Chelsea full-back Sam Hutchinson, who made his long-awaited return from a knee injury as a substitute against the Tractor Boys, fellow defender Jamaal Lascelles and midfielders Guy Moussi, Lewis McGugan, Jonathan Greening and Stephen McLaughlin are options for the Scot.

Davies thinks on-loan Norwich centre-half Daniel Ayala (hamstring) is around a week away from a return, while defender Dan Harding (calf) and Kuwaiti goalkeeper Khaled Al Rashidi (back) are also making good progress.

Dean Saunders is unlikely to change a winning formula for the trip having recorded his first win as Wolves boss at the 10th attempt.

The Welshman finally tasted victory courtesy of a 2-0 win at Millwall in midweek, a result which lifted Wanderers out of the npower Championship relegation zone.

Saunders made four changes for the encounter, with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Dave Edwards - both of whom found the net - Stephen Ward and Jake Cassidy coming in.

Bjorn Sigurdarson, Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt are again likely to have to watch from the bench, while on-loan full-back Jack Robinson, having dropped out of the matchday 18 altogether, will hope for some kind of involvement at the City Ground.

Wide man Razak Boukari is continuing his recovery from a lengthy absence with a troublesome calf injury but the clash will come too soon.

Source: PA