Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
MolineuxAttendance29,050.
Friday 19 January 2018 13:05, UK
Wolves remain without the suspended Ruben Vinagre against Nottingham Forest following his red card in their FA Cup draw with Swansea.
The defender serves the final game of his three-match ban having missed the draw at Barnsley and the 2-1 FA Cup third-round replay defeat at Swansea on Wednesday.
Jordan Graham is available after his loan at Fulham ended this week but the winger is unlikely to feature. Midfielder Ruben Neves is one yellow card away from a two-game ban after collecting nine cautions this season.
Joe Worrall comes back into contention for Nottingham Forest. The defender missed Aitor Karanka's first game as manager last weekend through suspension following his red card in the FA Cup win against Arsenal.
Matt Mills took his place at centre-half as the Reds were beaten 1-0 at home by Aston Villa and Karanka must decide whether Worrall goes straight back into the team on his return. Daryl Murphy has missed the last three matches with a knock and the seven-goal striker will be assessed once more.
Wolves are unbeaten in six league matches against Nottingham Forest (W4 D2).
Forest haven't lost four consecutive league matches against Wolves since a run of five between 1971 and 1977.
Wolves are unbeaten in their last 13 league games (W10 D3); only Blackburn (15) and Liverpool (14) are on a longer unbeaten run within the top four tiers of English league football.
Aitor Karanka has won each of his last four matches against Wolves in all competitions since losing his first in October 2014 at Molinuex as Middlesbrough boss.
Diogo Jota has been directly involved in 15 goals for Wolverhampton Wanderers this season; no midfielder has been involved in more in the competition.
Nottingham Forest have managed just one win in their last seven games in all competitions (D2 L4), although that win came in an FA Cup third round match against Premier League club Arsenal.
It wasn't a great start for Aitor Karanka last week as Nottingham Forest fell at home to Aston Villa. They put in an incredibly dour performance, which was disappointing to see from them after such a fantastic win over Arsenal in the FA Cup the week before.
It doesn't get any easier for Forest with a trip to Molineux on Saturday. Wolves have the best home record in the Championship and they're in a great position to keep that going. Home win.
David Prutton predicts: 2-1 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
