Key events
Brentford at the Baftas!
This is such a charming film, and it’s so great that it’s up for a blomin Bafta. Congratulations to everyone involved, not least the remarkable Allan Cockram.
And if you want to read about the Mighty Penguins, this interview is a perfect place to start.
When Nottingham Forest spent £150m in one transfer window in the summer of 2022, it was supposed to be a sign of ambition.
Brentford make three changes from their last league game, a defeat at Crystal Palace on 30 December. Ben Mee, Mikkel Damsgaard and yer man replace Zanka, Christian Norgaard (injured) and Saman Ghoddos (at the Asian Cup). That means Keane Lewis-Potter will move to left wing-back, though the loan signing Sergio Reguilon is on the bench.
Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White are both injured, which is a big blow to Nottingham Forest. They make four enforced, from their win over Manchester United on the same day. The summer signing Andrew Omobamidele finally makes his Premier League debut for Forest, replacing Moussa Niakhate at centre-back. Nuno Tavares come in for Ola Aina, who like Niakhate is on international duty, at left- back. Gibbs-White and Elanga are replaced by Orel Mangala and Callum Hudson-Odoi, which might mean a slight change of shape. There’s no natural replacement at No10 for Gibbs-White.
Brentford (possible 3-5-2) Flekken; Collins, Mee, Pinnock; Roerslev, Janelt, Jensen, Damsgaard, Lewis-Potter; Maupay, Toney.
Substitutes: Strakosha, Reguilon, Zanka, Ajer, Dasilva, Peart-Harris, Baptiste, Yarmoliuk, Olakigbe.
Nottingham Forest (possible 4-3-3) Turner; Montiel, Omobamidele, Murillo, Tavares; Mangala, Yates, Danilo; Hudson-Odoi, Wood, Dominguez.
Substitutes: Vlachodimos, Worrall, Williams, Toffolo, McKenna, Aguilera, McDonnell, Esapa Osong, Gardner.
Referee Darren England.
Team news
Ivan Toney captains Brentford on his return. Twenty-one other fellas will also start the game.
Preamble
Ivan Toney has been a very naughty boy; now we’re going to find out if he’s the messiah. His return from an eight-month ban comes not a moment too soon for Brentford, who are ankle deep in the relegation quicksand and in urgent need of both his ability and personality.
Brentford were doing okay without Toney, but the loss of his strike partner Bryan Mbeumo through injury made Premier League life unmanageable. Brentford have lost all five league games since Mbeumo’s injury; he won’t be back until mid-March, so it’s Toney’s turn to be the club’s chief pointswinner.
Toney has talked a magnificent game ahead of his return. In his interviews he has sounded like a boxer before a big fight, calmly promising what he intends to do to anyone who gets in his way. Toney’s fighting talk, stirring even for the neutral, has added a layer of anticipation to what was already the biggest comeback of its type in England since Eric Cantona turned up his collar on 1 October 1995.
Forest are the team who have drawn the short straw, although given their recent form they’re unlikely to fear Brentford. Were it not for FA charges hanging over them, they’d be entirely confident of avoiding relegation. Now they are in the peculiar position of not knowing how many points they need to stay up. So they might as well get as many as they can.
Kick off 5.30pm.
