Forest v Reading. Early team news

Last updated : 16 January 2010 By Angus Muller

Davies made seven changes as his side went out of the cup at Birmingham in midweek.

The likes of Kelvin Wilson, Chris Gunter, Paul Anderson, Paul McKenna, Radoslaw Majewski and Dexter Blackstock will be pushing for recalls.

Nicky Shorey was ineligible at St Andrew's under the terms of his loan from Aston Villa but the left-back will return to the starting line-up against his former club.

Striker Robert Earnshaw is still nursing a hamstring problem and remains a doubt.

Forest are unbeaten in 17 Championship matches and will be looking to consolidate second place in the table.

Andy Griffin and Gunnar Thorvaldsson will hope to force their way into contention for debuts for Reading when the FA Cup heroes travel to Forest.

Full-back Griffin signed on loan from Stoke for the remainder of the season on Tuesday while Icelandic striker Thorvaldsson has received international clearance to complete his loan from Esbjerg.

The duo were not eligible for the famous 2-1 third-round replay win at Liverpool on Wednesday night but will both travel to the City Ground.

Griffin is set to start at right-back in place of converted midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson while Thorvaldsson will have to settle for a place on the bench.

Shane Long will hope for a start after he came on to head the winner at Anfield but interim boss Brian McDermott may stick with the combination of Grzegorz Rasiak and Simon Church in attack.

Noel Hunt and Chris Armstrong (both knee) remain the Royals' only injury worries.

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