Barnsley, Leeds United and Sheffield United - Yorkshire's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Nottingham Forest are contending with an injury pile-up just days out from their clash with Leeds United.
Over in West Yorkshire, there is complete focus on the Sunday meeting with 19th-placed Forest at the City Ground.
Leeds have a tricky run of fixtures following the international break, making a positive result against a struggling side particularly crucial.
Forest, however, have not turned their attention to Leeds just yet. They are due to face Austrian outfit Sturm Graz away from home in the Europa League at 5:45pm today (November 6).
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche is facing injury problems.placeholder image
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche is facing injury problems. | Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Nottingham Forest’s injury woes
Forest boss Sean Dyche has been dealt two fresh injury blows, with Douglas Luiz and Callum Hudson-Odoi having picked up problems against Manchester United last weekend.
The pair have joined Chris Wood, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Dilane Bakwa, Angus Gunn and Ola Aina on the absentee list.
As reported by Nottinghamshire Live, Dyche said: “Douglas Luiz is going to receive treatment. That is not likely to be a quick situation; we are waiting on more news.
“Callum is hopefully going to be slightly easier. He won’t be for this game, but we will see how it goes for the weekend.
“The international break is going to be important for a few players, to give them more of a chance to get fit. Woody is making good progress.”
Premier League remains bread and butter
With Igor Jesus suspended and the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Jair Cunha and Taiwo Awoniyi not in Forest’s Europa League squad, Dyche is low on numbers for the Austrian test.
He said: “We are without 11, I think - not just injuries but also some of the lads who couldn’t make this squad list. We’ve got to do well in this game and of course the next one, but then the international break will be very helpful to give players time to recover from their injuries.
“The games are big games for different reasons. This means a lot to the club, the history of the club and the fans. We are certainly taking it seriously.
Leeds United and Nottingham Forest last met in a pre-season friendly in the summer of 2023.placeholder image
Leeds United and Nottingham Forest last met in a pre-season friendly in the summer of 2023. | David Rogers/Getty Images
“But we have to look at the next game as well because it is very, very important. The Premier League is your bread and butter at the end of the day. It is the thing the club was striving for for all those years to get back into.
“It has been a very tough period to sustain what they did last year, that’s quite obvious. It’s about correcting that. We have had good signs, performance wise. But we have got to turn that into wins.
“We are thin on numbers, so it’s a risk and reward - playing players in both games, but some players are going to need to play certain segments of both. We will have to wait and see how we can manage it the best we can, depending on the scoreline and everything. They are both big games for different reasons.”