West Bromwich Albion welcome Nottingham Forest to The Hawthorns on Friday night, with both sides looking to return to winning ways. 

Valérien Ismaël's side are without a win in four league games and a win would temporarily close the gap on the top two to five points. Steve Cooper and his side have failed to win either of their two games since the international break, after picking up back-to-back draws against Reading and Luton Town

The Reds face an uphill challenge with the Baggies being unbeaten at home so far this campaign. 

Team news

Sam Johnstone is set to make his 150th appearance for the Baggies, but club captain Jake Livermore will miss out once more as he serves the second of his three-match suspension. 

Robert Snodgrass has missed the last couple of games for Ismaël's side, but the Frenchman confirmed that it is not injury related, so remains to be seen if the Scotsman will feature against Forest. 

Central defenders Kean Bryan and Dara O'Shea are long-term absentees, so will miss the game on Friday night. 

One man back, another out through suspension for Cooper as Ryan Yates returns but Jack Colback will sit out the encounter after picking up a red card in midweek against Luton. 

After the game in midweek, the Reds boss confirmed that wing-back Max Lowe would be out for up to two months with a groin problem, leaving Gaetan Bong as the clubs only senior left-back. 

Lewis Grabban looks set to be recalled to the side in the place of Lyle Taylor and take back the armband from defender Joe Worrall.

Predicted lineups

West Bromwich Albion (3-4-2-1)

Johnstone; Kipre, Bartley, Clarke, Furlong, Mowatt, Molumby, Townsend, Diangana, Robinson, Grant. 

Nottingham Forest (3-4-3): 

Samba; Worrall, Figueiredo, McKenna, Spence, Ojeda, Yates, Bong, Johnson, Zinckernagel, Grabban. 

Ones to watch

Karlan Grant - West Bromwich Albion

The 24-year-old centre forward had a tough spell in the top flight for Albion last season, but this season he is starting to show signs of the quality that made the club fork out £15 million for him just 12 months ago. 

The former Huddersfield Town frontman has bagged eight goals in the league this season, including four in his last eight games and his pace and ability to finish in front of goal will certainly cause no end of trouble for the Forest backline. 

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Lewis Grabban - Nottingham Forest

After the previous season was disrupted by injury, Lewis Grabban has hit the ground running this campaign bagging eight goals in 17 league appearances. 

He has been Forest's talisman for the past three campaigns after joining from AFC Bournemouth for £6 million back in the summer of 2018. However, it is more than just his goalscoring record that has made him a fan favourite on Trentside. His hold up play is up there with the very best in the league, and he very rarely gives possession away. 

It is no secret that Grabban is getting towards the back end of his career, but he doesn't show any signs of slowing down in the goalscoring department. 

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Previous meetings 

In the last four league encounters between the two sides, three have ended in draws with Albion winning the other on the opening day of the 2019/20 Championship season. 

The Reds haven't won away at West Brom since January 2010. Goals from Chris Cohen, Dexter Blackstock and Radosław Majewski helped claim all three points in a 3-1 victory. 

The last two meetings at The Hawthorns have ended in 2-2 draws, so goals are to be expected in this one. 

Last time out... 

 

How to watch

The game is live on Sky Sports Main Event, with kick-off at 20:00 GMT on Friday evening.