After a long 16 days, Manchester United finally have a game again tonight.
They might have played sooner had Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee had their shooting boots on during the FA Cup penalty shootout with Fulham. Instead, United's fixtures in April and May are restricted to the Premier League and the Europa League.
United are back at the City Ground tonight for the first time in 13 months, having played there four times within 13 months following Nottingham Forest's return to the top flight in 2022. Forest are third in the league and into the last four of the FA Cup in this remarkable season of theirs.
Here are five things to look out for in tonight's game:
**Who's back?**
United dealt with their recent defensive injury crisis creditably and now have the chance to field their strongest trident and wingers without the recovering Lisandro Martinez.
Harry Maguire, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro are the logical starting back three, Patrick Dorgu has slotted in on the left and the durable Diogo Dalot has started in 28 out of 29 league games this season. The only one he missed against Southampton was through suspension.
**Mazraoui's new role?**
Noussair Mazraoui was recruited as a competitor for Dalot yet they have lined up together 36 times amid United's ongoing issues at left back. That could now change.
Mazraoui has been one of the few respectable performers for United and he has occupied five different roles in two different formations. But he could belatedly assume the squad-player status he seemed destined for when he joined from Bayern Munich.
Ruben Amorim named Mazraoui on the bench for the 3-2 win against Ipswich Town last month Yoro, De Ligt, Maguire, Dalot and Dorgu started. That was only the third time Mazraoui had started on the bench in the league and he was a substitute for the reverse fixture against Forest in December when Amorim picked an XI widely considered to be United's best at the time.
The consolation for the Moroccan is that United have plenty of injury-prone defenders and Mazraoui will probably have plenty of playing time in the run-in.
How many of these start tonight?
**Protecting players?**
Nuno Espirito Santo avoided an awkward inquest with Forest's progression to a first FA Cup semi-final since 1991. Naming Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga on the bench was borderline frivolous for a team that last won a major honour in 1990.
Forest had internationals who represented New Zealand, Paraguay, Brazil, Nigeria and Ivory Coast last month. Brighton, their conquests on Saturday night, had players on duty for Paraguay, Brazil, Japan, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and The Gambia, which contributed to the tedious two-hour tie.
It was churlish of the Forest coach to bench a starter who had played in Stockholm four days earlier and another who was not called up. Third-placed Forest have nine league fixtures remaining and Champions League qualification is theirs to lose, so Elanga and Hudson-Odoi will be back in the starting XI tonight.
Elanga comes up against his former club tonight
Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Victor Lindelof did not train on Friday as they played for their nations last Tuesday. Ugarte played in the high altitude of Bolivia but that was a week ago.
**Elanga in rhythmic form?**
One of the most inaccurate United chants was Elanga's. It included the lyric "scoring goals from everywhere" when he only got four and did not score in his last 18 months at the club.
Elanga has shown at Forest he is a Premier League-quality player and he is a credit to United's academy. He is also having a better season than the wingers United kept over him. Marcus Rashford and Antony were temporarily shifted and so was Jadon Sancho, someone Chelsea must wish they had not negotiated an obligation to buy for.
The only error United made with Elanga was not to obtain a higher fee (United got £15million up front). Everton were also in for Elanga in summer 2023. Everton finished 17th and Forest 16th in 2022-23.
**Two in a row?**
United have not won successive league games all season and have won three on the spin only once. Fulham and Newcastle are the two teams that have gone to the City Ground and left with three points, so victory this evening would be a borderline statement for 13th-placed United.