Chris Hughton is "prepared" to leave one of his loan players out of his squad, with James Garner set to arrive at the City Ground on loan from Manchester United.

Garner is set to become sixth loan signing this weekend, with the midfielder set to undergo a medical at the City Ground after having his loan deal at Watford cancelled.

Forest already have five players in on loan, in Cafu, Filip Krovinovic, Luke Freeman, Cyrus Christie and Anthony Knockaert.

Quiz: Did each of these 18 ex-Nottingham Forest players ever score a goal at the City Ground?

EFL rules state that no more than five loanees can be named in a matchday squad, meaning that if Garner were to join, one of those six would have to be left out.

Speaking to the Athletic, though, Chris Hughton has made it clear that he is aware of the rule, and is "prepared" to do some juggling around even if it meant leaving some players out of the squad entirely.

He told the Athletic: "It is not an ideal situation.

"But if we felt that would add to what we have got, we would then have to make that decision. I would not say it causes you a problem, but it does give you an extra decision.

"If that was the case, we would be prepared to do that.”

The Verdict

It isn't ideal, but if Hughton believes that Garner is someone who can improve his squad, then who is anyone to question him?

Garner has had a taste of regular Championship football this season, and I was quite surprised to see that his loan deal at Vicarage Road was brought to a premature end to be honest.

He would be a much-needed signing for Forest, and would definitely add some much-needed depth and quality on the ball.