Boss Steve Cooper insisted there was nothing to read into his decision to leave Brennan Johnson out of his starting XI amid speculation about the Nottingham Forest ace’s future.
Whether the Reds are able to hang on to the attacker remains to be seen. He was not included in the line-up as Cooper’s side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Burnley in a 1-0 defeat at the City Ground. “You could see some of the other changes we made,” Cooper said, when asked about Johnson. “It’s a three-game week, and it’s a Wednesday-Saturday.
Zeki Amdouni’s late winner knocked the hosts out of the cup in the second round. Forest had failed to register a single shot on target during the game, although they did look brighter when substitutions were made in the second half.