A trio of Nottingham Forest players are set to be given a lifeline at the City Ground under Chris Hughton this week, as the new manager begins to make assessments of his new group of players.

Hughton, who arrived at the City Ground last week, will be keen to hit the ground running on Trentside and look to pick up as many points as possible in his first few weeks in charge.

Straight away, Hughton is tasked with handling Forest's inflated playing squad, and the manager will be taking a good look at his players this week, before making decisions ahead of Friday's transfer deadline.

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Three players who have been previously frozen out at the City Ground - Michael Hefele, Gaetan Bong and Zach Clough - are set to be involved in training, as they look to resurrect their careers on Trentside.

The latter hasn't made an appearance for Forest in well over two years, with his last game for the club coming under Aitor Karanka against Hull City in January 2018.

Three permanent managers and 989 days later, Clough finds himself way down the pecking order on Trentside, having failed to make an impact under Martin O'Neill and Sabri Lamouchi.

It has been a tough time on Trentside for Clough, who arrived from Bolton Wanderers in January 2017 having impressed for the Trotters in League One.

Despite a bright start to life at the City Ground, Clough fell out of favour under Karanka, and his career has spiralled downwards ever since.

Loan spells with Rochdale and Bolton failed to pay off as the midfielder flattered to deceive, and at the age of 25, now really is make or break for Clough.

In previous windows, we have seen the player remain on the books, picking up his wages without even get a kick in the first-team, turning out for the Under-23s week in, week out.

Now beyond halfway towards 30-years-old, now is the time for Clough to leave the club despite the lifeline he has been given.

With the likes of Harry Arter, Luke Freeman and potentially another creative, attacking outlet arriving at the club before Friday's deadline, his chances of regular game-time appear to be slim.

Can he afford to fight for a place under Hughton, not get selected and fail to secure another move and the chance of regular game-time away?

He only has one year left on his contract at the City Ground, too, so the club should be eager to receive some sort of fee for him rather than potentially lose him for nothing next year.

It's a move that makes sense for all parties, and it's one that should be a priority for the player.