Nottingham Forest striker Lewis Grabban says he is ready to return to action when the club host Swansea City in the first game back after the March international break.

Grabban hasn't featured in any of Forest's last five games due to an Achilles problem, but is confident he will be available to Martin O'Neill when Swansea make the trip to the City Ground on the 30th March.

Speaking to The Nottingham Post, Grabban, who is Forest's top scorer this season with fifteen league goals, said: " I am back in training and have been for the past few days. I am back with the lads and just trying to get a bit of sharpness back.

"I am pain free now, which is good."

Elaborating on his latest injury, the striker added: "It has been a frustrating period for me, even when I was involved it was frustrating, when I was playing with a niggle. It was just getting more painful and more sore.

"With recent results, it only got more frustrating. Hopefully now, after this recent break, I can stay on the pitch until the end of the season and do well again."

This is the third time this season Grabban has been sidelined by his Achilles, and the 31-year-old revealed it is that he is hoping he will be able to fix at the end of the season, saying: "It is hopefully something we can sort in the summer. I had a problem in my knee, with my tendon, a few years ago. The summer sorted it out, because it is just the break you need.

"I will be looking to do that this summer. Hopefully next season it will not be a problem for me."

The verdict

The return of Lewis Grabban could be the shot in the arm that Forest's stuttering playoff campaign needs.

The striker's goals have won Forest a handful of points this season, and they will need him to pick that form up again quickly in the final eight games to keep those play-off hopes alive.