Glasner hails Gibbs-White's return ahead of crucial Ipswich clash

Nottingham Forest head coach Oliver Glasner has been handed a welcome boost ahead of Friday's trip to Ipswich Town, with captain Morgan Gibbs-White back in contention.

Gibbs-White, who missed Forest's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal after picking up an injury against Crystal Palace the previous week, returns to the squad. The England international had been one of the side's key figures this season, with 1 goal and 2 assists in his 6 league appearances.

With Forest 19th in the Premier League, the game against Ipswich at Portman Road carries huge significance, and the captain's return comes at a crucial moment. While Glasner was pleased to have his skipper back, he stressed that Gibbs-White cannot win matches on his own and that every player needs to contribute.

"He's ready, he's trained with the team all week and he has no issues," said Glasner. "Nikola Milenković was already on the bench and he's now ready to start and play. Only Igor Jesus and Nicolò Savona won't be in the matchday squad; everyone else is fine and fit. Of course, it's very important to have your captain on the pitch. He's a player who can create chances and score goals himself. It's positive, but we've also shown that we can be very competitive against the champions without Morgan Gibbs-White. That gives us confidence, because we've lost with Morgan and we've lost without him. He's a very important piece, but he can't win the game on his own, so we need a top performance as a team. Still, it's good to have him back."

Ipswich Town, meanwhile, have made a strong start to life in the Premier League and caught the eye with their resilience despite a 3-2 defeat by Manchester City last time out. Ipswich responded to Phil Foden's opener through Daizen Maeda, but in-form striker Erling Haaland's goals either side of half-time proved decisive. Zian Flemming's late penalty settled the scoreline, yet Ipswich have now lost 9 of their last 10 away games in the North West since a win over Everton in February 2002.

Ipswich captain Dara O'Shea praised his side's fight against City but stressed the need to start picking up points as soon as possible. "We're disappointed to leave here with nothing," said O'Shea. "Our aim was to make life difficult for them and take something, but it didn't happen. If you look at the way we played, especially towards the end, we were the ones applying the pressure. We know the quality City have. A lot has changed since our last spell in the league; we have a lot of new players and the confidence in the squad is high. We're laying the groundwork to be effective in front of goal. We have huge belief, and that's definitely one of the most important qualities of our team. We want to start getting points on the board as soon as possible."