Boss Mick McCarthy says Anthony Wordsworth’s performances in the last two games have given him a dilemma in the centre of midfield with Cole Skuse available for Saturday’s home game against Nottingham Forest after injury. The eighth-placed Blues go into the match, one position behind the visitors on goal difference and just two points from the top six.
McCarthy has been delighted with Wordsworth’s displays and admits he’s given him a welcome problem now that Skuse is over the hip injury which kept him out of the wins at Brighton and at home to Derby.
"He’s done everything I could have asked of him in the last couple of games,” he said. "It would be much worse for me if he’d been [rubbish] and we’d lost two!”
However, he admits that three tough Championship games in eight days is a big ask, especially for players such as Wordsworth who haven’t had too many matches in recent months.
"That’s the case,” he added. "But there aren’t too many who haven’t played an enormous number of games in my squad because I’ve not used that many players.
"The back four have all played about 36 games each, Cressy’s missed a couple but it’s been fairly solid throughout.
"But three games in a week takes its toll. Our stats on Tuesday showed that we covered 121km as a team. That might mean nothing to you, when we played Wigan up there and lost we covered 110km as a team and we played well and thought we’d run around.
"Derby, they were just behind us, 119km. And with eight games to play, that’s remarkable. But if you work that hard it takes its toll, definitely.”
That could see Skuse return to his regular midfield role for Wordsworth against Forest with Luke Hyam likely to continue in the other central position.
McCarthy could also be weighing up whether to switch Jay Tabb for Stephen Hunt on the left or Paul Green for Paul Anderson on the right, but is unlikely to change his regular back four with skipper Luke Chambers and Aaron Cresswell the full-backs and Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra in the centre, while Dean Gerken will continue in goal.
Up front, loanee Jonny Williams, who plays the last game of his currently scheduled month from Palace, will be behind Daryl Murphy.
McCarthy, who has loaned club captain Carlos Edwards to Millwall, has confirmed that Alex Henshall, signed on loan from Manchester City, is in the squad ahead of matchday, although may not get into the final 18.
Despite managerless Forest having gone nine games without a win in all competitions, McCarthy warns that the match will be no walkover.
"They’re no mugs coming here, believe me,” he insisted. "We just watched the game they played in midweek against Charlton.
"Despite losing 1-0 in the last 10 minutes or so they’ve got a good squad of players. There were plenty of really good, solid Championship players playing out there.”
Forest caretaker-boss Gary Brazil will be unable to call on central defender Jamaal Lascelles, who is banned having picked up 10 bookings, adding to a lengthy list of unavailable unfit players.
Defenders Eric Lichaj (hernia), Kelvin Wilson (back) and Jack Hobbs (ankle) are all out, along with midfielders Henri Lansbury (back), David Vaughan (knee), skipper Chris Cohen (knee) and, perhaps most significantly of all, Andy Reid (hernia). Striker Marcus Tudgay has been recalled from a loan spell with Charlton.
Centre-half Danny Collins was on loan with Town in the 2011/12 season, while former Blues left-back Dan Harding is also a member of the current Forest squad. One-time Town coach and caretaker-manager Charlie McParland is now Forest’s U21s boss.
Luke Chambers joined Town on a Bosman free transfer after departing the City Ground in the summer of 2012, while David McGoldrick signed on loan from the Tricky Trees in January last year before putting pen to paper on a permanent deal in the summer. Paul Anderson was with Forest from August 2008 until July 2012, initially on loan from Liverpool.
Scott Loach was an academy schoolboy with his hometown club after leaving the Blues’ youth set-up when his family relocated back to the Midlands.
Historically, Forest very much have the upper hand, winning 34 of the games between the two sides (31 in the league), 15 (14) ending in draws and Town winning 19 (18). The Tricky Trees are currently without a win in their last nine in all competitions, losing six and drawing three.
In December at the City Ground, Town stretched their unbeaten away run to six games as the game ended 0-0.
Forest were unhappy not to be awarded a first-half penalty when striker Simon Cox went to ground as he tried to take the ball past Dean Gerken, who made a number of impressive saves for the Blues, who also had chances.
In November 2012 at Portman Road, Guirane N’Daw, Luke Hyam and Daryl Murphy were on target as Town climbed out of the bottom three by beating Forest 3-1.
Visitors’ keeper Lee Camp should already have been sent off before he and ex-Blues loanee Collins failed to deal with a long ball and N’Daw netted his first and ultimately only goal for Town.
Dexter Blackstock equalised for the visitors after the break but Hyam slammed in his first for the Blues after DJ Campbell’s penalty had been saved and Murphy added the third late on.
Saturday’s referee is Andrew Madley from West Yorkshire, who has shown 91 yellow cards and four red in 32 games so far this season.
Madley’s most recent Town match was the 2-0 home victory over Reading in January in which he booked Stephen Hunt, Paul Anderson and one Royal.
Squad from: Gerken, Loach, Chambers, Richardson, Cresswell, Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Wordsworth, Hyam, Green, Hunt, Tabb, Anderson, Henshall, Williams, Murphy, Nouble, Ebanks-Blake, Taylor.