Nottingham Forest travel to Millwall this weekend carrying at least three injury doubts.

Although they're stranded in the middle of the pack, Aitor Karanka will want a strong finish to his first season in charge in order to carry momentum forward into next.

However, in-form Millwall are still chasing an unlikely play off spot and the injured trio's absence won't help Forest one bit.

Kieron Dowell, Daryl Murphy and Matty Cash are all facing a fight to be fit according to the Nottingham Post.

“I don’t know if Kieran will be able to play on Friday, we will have to see – and we will look at the situation again for Monday,” he said. "Cashy I do not know, he has not been able to train with the team over the last two weeks. Daryl Murphy left the training session yesterday as well. We will need to see what happens with him over the next 24 hours.”

However, defender Jack Hobbs did get some time in the U23s as he hunts a first team return. He's out of contract in the summer and fighting hard to impress the new manager.

"Jack is ready to push. He played 70 minutes in a training game last week and he is training really well,” said Karanka.“He is an experienced player and I am really pleased with him. Even when he is not playing, he is an influence with his happiness about being back involved and being back with the team."

The Verdict

It would be worse if the injuries were piling up during a relegation battle or promotion chase, but they're not. The difference he is between finishing in 13th or 16th, not a real dilemma for a manager to be facing.

Karanka is out of the woods this season, but he surely has one eye on the next campaign when he hopes to establish Forest as a Championship challenger.

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