Oliver Glasner has suffered a major injury ahead of Nottingham Forest’s trip to Ipswich Town on Friday, with captain Morgan Gibbs-White available for selection.
Gibbs-White did not feature in Forest’s 1-0 defeat to Premier League champions Arsenal last week, having faced Crystal Palace the week before.
The England international has been a key figure for Glasner’s side so far this season, scoring one goal and providing two assists in six league appearances for the Tricky Trees.
His return comes at a crucial time for Forest, who find themselves 19th in the Premier League ahead of their trip to Portman Road to face Gary O’Neil’s Ipswich.
While Glasner welcomed the Forest captain’s return, he said Gibbs-White cannot win games on his own, adding that all his players need to chip in.
“He’s ready, he’s been training all week, so there’s no problem,” Glasner said. “[Nikola] Milenkovic was already on the bench and ready to start and play.
“It’s just Igor [Jesus] and [Nicolo] Savona may not be included in the matchday squad, but the others are good and fit.
“Of course, it’s important when your captain is ready. He’s someone who can create chances and score goals himself.
“It’s a positive thing, but I think you can see we have a very competitive team against the champions even without Morgan Gibbs-White.
“It gives us confidence because we lost without Morgan and with Morgan. He’s an important part but he can’t win a game on his own so we need a top team performance but it’s good to have him back.”
The focus turns to Friday night.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 20, 2026
Ipswich, meanwhile, have made a strong start to life in the Premier League and gave a good account of themselves despite losing 3-2 to Manchester City.
Phil Foden’s opener was canceled out by Daizen Maeda, but goals either side of half-time from the in-form Erling Haaland proved decisive for the league leaders.
Zian Flemming headed home a late penalty but Ipswich have now lost nine of their last 10 away games in the North West (D1) since a 2-1 win over Everton in February 2002.
But Ipswich skipper Dara O’Shea gave his side credit for a battling display, but he admitted the Tractor Boys needed to get points on the board quickly.
“I’m disappointed not to come away with a point,” O’Shea said after the defeat to City. “The goal was to come here and cause them problems and score points, but it didn’t happen like that.
“Because of how we played, especially at the end, we felt like we were the team pushing ourselves. We know what City are capable of.
“A lot has happened since we were last in the league, a lot of different players, a lot of confidence. We give ourselves a great platform to score goals in games.
“Mass confidence is definitely one of the characteristics of the group. When you have success late in games, we know we have it. We want to get points on the board as soon as possible. As long as we push late in the game.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ipswich Town – Zian Flemming
Fleming has scored four goals in 7 league games this season (two for Burnley, two for Ipswich).
His next goal will be his 50th in the Premier League and he will fancy his chances against Forest, having scored against them once in the Premier League.
Ziya’s second goal for Town.
— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) October 18, 2026
Nottingham Forest – Liam Delap
Delap was Ipswich’s top scorer in the 2024-25 Premier League campaign but is still finding his feet under Oliver Glasner at Forest after a difficult spell at Chelsea.
Delap, who scored his third strike for Forest this term, has since made 15 unsuccessful attempts, including a notable run against Crystal Palace.
MATCH PREDICTION: IPSWICH TOWN WIN
Ipswich won their first two Premier League games against Forest in 1992–93 but have since lost all four against Tricky Trees in 1994–95 and 2024–25.
However, the Tractor Boys have won two of their three Premier League home games this season (M1) and their previous 25 at Portman Road (6 L17). They are looking to win consecutive top-flight home games for the first time since four games between December and January 2001-02.
And they used to leave everything late. Ipswich have scored five goals in the 90th minute (including stoppage time) in the Premier League this season, more than any other team. All three of their victories during this period were achieved thanks to strikes in the 90th minute.
Forest, on the other hand, have lost more in their last three Premier League games than in their previous 14 games (W5 D7 L2). They have also failed to score in four different fly-ball games this season, with no side conceding more often.
Glasner’s side are seventh in expected goals in the Premier League this season (11.2) but have conceded just five times. This is the biggest xG underperformance of any side in the competition this term (-6.2).
But Forest won 4-2 on their last visit to Portman Road in 2024-25, although they have not won back-to-back league trips to Ipswich since beating them in the Championship in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
OPTA WIN probability
Ipswich Town – 43.2%
Win – 26.7%
Nottingham Forest – 30.1%