Nuno Espirito Santo, Manager of Nottingham Forest during the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest at Amex Stadium on March 29, 2025 in Brighton, England.Nuno Espirito Santo, Manager of Nottingham Forest during the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest at Amex Stadium on March 29, 2025 in Brighton, England.
Nuno Espirito Santo, Manager of Nottingham Forest during the Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest at Amex Stadium on March 29, 2025 in Brighton, England. | Getty Images
Nottingham Forest could be missing two of their most important players against Manchester United on Tuesday
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says the club will assess both Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White ahead of Manchester United’s visit to the City Ground amid injury concerns to both players.
Wood suffered an injury on international duty with New Zealand and missed the FA Cup clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday night while Gibbs-White was forced off as Forest beat the Seagulls on penalties to reach the FA Cup semi-final. They will face Manchester City, who beat Bournemouth 2-1 as they also face a nervous injury wait on Erling Haaland ahead of their clash with the Red Devils later this week.
Gibbs-White was withdrawn before the penalty shootout against Brighton after a collision with the post, having played a key role in previous FA Cup victories for Forest - with each of their wins in the competition coming via spot kicks.
Santo gives injury updates on Wood and Gibbs-White
Wood was injured as New Zealand beat New Caledonia in the a World Cup qualifier. It ruled him out of the FA Cup trip to Brighton and it is not yet clear if he will be fit enough to face United on Tuesday night at the City Ground.
On Wood, Santo said: “Let’s wait and see. It is going to be day by day we have to assess him. It is all about the pain he has. It was a big impact on his hip and it is very painful. We have to assess him. We are gutted that Chris is not here with us. I cannot answer that [if Wood will be fit to play United]. I don’t know, I’m not sure. It is going to be day by day.”
Providing an update on Gibbs-White, Santo said: “We are going to assess him. He had a big contact against the post. His leg was not OK and he was struggling. In the final minutes, you saw we were suffering. We were on the ropes, so we decided to turn to Morato to see if we could hold on for penalties.”
Wood and Gibbs-White absences would be a big boost for Man United
Forest beat United 3-2 at Old Trafford back in early December, with Gibbs-White and Wood both scoring in that game. It was the first time that Ruben Amorim lost at Old Trafford as Gibbs-White also provided an assist.
Wood has scored 18 goals and provided three assists for Forest in the Premier League this season. If he is not fit to face the Red Devils, his absence will be keenly felt as former United player Anthony Elanga - along with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Gibbs-White are the club’s joint second top-scorers with just five goals each. Forest lacked a cutting edge against Brighton over the weekend as the game ended 0-0 after 120 minutes.
Along with his five goals, Gibbs-White has seven assists this season in the Premier League for Forest. Only Elanga has more with eight. If both Wood and Gibbs-White miss the game, it would see Forest be without two players who have a combined 33 goal contributions this term.