After suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat to Blackpool in the FA Cup third round last season, Nottingham Forest were on course to crash out at the same stage to the same opponents exactly 365 days later, as they trailed by two goals inside the first 27 minutes against the Tangerines a week last Sunday.
Albie Morgan netted just two minutes and 47 seconds after former Forest man Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel opened the scoring for Blackpool, but the Tricky Trees pulled one back through Nicolas Dominguez on the stroke of half time, before Morgan Gibbs-White netted a stunning 56th-minute equaliser to rescue a replay.
Nuno Espirito Santo was hoping to take his side to St George’s Park in Burton for a bonding session during the winter break, but Forest are forced to “reorganise” their mid-seasons plans as they prepare for their “priority” fixture away at Blackpool.
Forest have since been rocked by the news that they have been charged with breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, and the club – who sit 15th in the table and just four points above the relegation zone – have released a statement confirming that they “continue to cooperate fully” on the matter and “are confident of a speedy and fair resolution.”
The Tricky Trees are at risk of receiving a points deduction, but Nuno will be keen to ensure that his players are focused fully on what they can do on the pitch, starting with Wednesday’s FA Cup tie with Blackpool as they endeavour to avoid losing a third successive third-round replay, having previously suffered defeat to Birmingham City (2009-10) and Leicester City (2011-12).
Blackpool are set to be without injured duo Jake Beesley and Kylian Kouassi, while Matthew Pennington, who has missed the last five games due to concussion protocols, remains doubtful.
Critchley may consider making changes in the wing-back positions, with Lawrence-Gabriel and Andy Lyons pushing to start ahead of Kyle Joseph and Hayden Coulson respectively.
Should Joseph drop down to the substitutes’ bench, CJ Hamilton could move into the front three with Karamoko Dembele and Jordan Rhodes, the latter of whom has scored 15 goals this season but has failed to convert in any of his last five appearances.
As for Nottingham Forest, they have a Premier League-high six players away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations in the form of Serge Aurier, Ola Aina, Willy Boly, Cheikhou Kouyate, Moussa Niakhate and Ibrahim Sangare.
The Tricky Trees will also have to cope without Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) and Felipe (calf) due to injury, while Anthony Elanga (knock) and Divock Origi (groin) are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Nuno will likely start with a similar side that began in the reverse fixture against Blackpool considering the number of absentees, although the likes of Orel Mangala, Nuno Tavares, and Nico Williams will be pushing for a place in the first XI.
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Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; Connolly, Casey, Husband; Lawrence-Gabriel, Norburn, Morgan, Lyons; Dembele, Hamilton; Rhodes
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Williams, Worrall, Murillo, Tavares; Mangala, Yates; Hudson-Odoi, Dominguez, Gibbs-White; Wood
