Lyle Taylor pushing for return to Forest starting XI against Birmingham

Nottingham Forest striker Lyle Taylor is looking to reclaim his place in the starting line-up for the Sky Bet Championship clash with Birmingham.

Taylor was named on the bench for the 1-1 draw at Millwall after sustaining an unspecified knock, but he is back to full fitness and looking to displace Lewis Grabban, who recently recovered from a hip issue.

Defender Scott McKenna has missed the last four games with an ankle injury and his fitness continues to be assessed.

Forest boss Chris Hughton has revealed his squad will train on Christmas Day, declaring “it’s business as normal”.

Birmingham counterpart Aitor Karanka is considering whether to shuffle his deck once more as he looks to end a run of three defeats that has placed Blues in relegation trouble.

Karanka made five changes for the 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough and is assessing his options.

Zach Jeacock (ankle), Caolan Boyd-Munce (thigh), George Friend (knee) and Jeremie Bela (thigh) are in the treatment room.

“The most difficult thing for me to deal with is how different we were a week or two ago to now. If we keep going in the same way we won’t be a consistent team,” Karanka said.

 

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