REDFEARN TO MONITOR DUO
Team news ahead of our City Ground trip...
Head coach Neil Redfearn expects Stephen Warnock to be fit for Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest, but will continue to assess the progress of Giuseppe Bellusci and Rodolph Austin.
Warnock was replaced in the closing stages of last weekend's 1-0 defeat at home to Fulham, but has since trained fully throughout the week.
"I think with Stephen it was just tiredness," said Redfearn. "He’s been fantastic in the last few games and I think in the last few games it’s just caught up with him a little bit.
"He’s put a lot of effort into what he’s done and he’s taken a lot of responsibility on his shoulders as a senior pro.
"I think on Saturday he just ran out of steam a little bit and the reaction with his hamstring was more tiredness rather than anything else.
"He’s trained again this week and he seems fine so hopefully he’ll be okay."
Bellusci was absent for the losses to Ipswich Town and Fulham due to a hamstring strain, while Austin was named among the substitutes against the Cottagers but had to miss out after picking up a knock in the warm-up.
"We looked at them on Thursday again for differing reasons," Redfearn said.
"Rudy joined in training but we’ll have to see how he goes, whether he’s got a reaction to anything.
"But Giuseppe still stayed with the physios and we’ll see how he comes out of it before Saturday.
"With a hamstring, you’ve got to be spot on with it. If it goes for whatever reason, then you’re looking at months if it’s a bad one so we’re really mindful of that.
"He’s an important player for us. Both are not far off but we’ve just go to be careful."