Everton handed major boost for Nottingham Forest clash after statement released

Nottingham Forest have been hit by a blow ahead of their clash against Everton.

The City Ground side make the trip to Goodison Park on Sunday and an intriguing encounter is in store. Forest are this season's surprise package and sit third in the Premier League table. They earned their latest victory by beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Boxing Day.

But Forest face an Everton side who have pulled out three big results in as many games. After frustrating title challenges Arsenal and Chelsea to 0-0 draws, the Blues earned a much-deserved 1-1 stalemate at Manchester City yesterday. Sean Dyche's have also not conceded a goal in their past four games.

To their credit, Forest have won at Liverpool and Manchester United this season. However, they will travel to Everton without their captain Ryan Yates. The midfielder was issued his fifth Premier League yellow card of the season against Spurs and must serve a one-game suspension.

Yates has been a linchpin for Nun Espirito Santo's side, making 18 appearances and scoring once this season. A Premier League statement said: “In addition to [Manuel] Ugarte, eight other players have reached the yellow card suspension threshold.

West Ham United pair Tomas Soucek and Guido Rodriguez, together with Aston Villa's Matty Cash, Nottingham Forest's Ryan Yates, AFC Bournemouth's Justin Kluivert, Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi, Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai and Leicester City's Jordan Ayew were all yellow carded for the fifth time.

Forest will have Nicolas Dominguez back available after he served a one-game ban against Tottenham. On the win, Santo told reporters: "It was a good performance. We spoke before about the quality in this Spurs team and the fact they score a lot of goals.

“The way we started was nice and brave. We tried to keep tight on the Spurs players, and that gave us an advantage in not allowing them to play. After that, we really went out well in the first half.

“Second half, we started better and created some situations. In the final moments of the game it was about defending and sticking to the result. The belief and the commitment of the players to avoid any kind of danger was good.

“What can I say about the help of the fans at the City Ground? Today was really, really special. It is huge for us that we are now starting to see this bond that makes us stronger.”