Carabao Cup: Forest v Wolves preview: Julen Lopetegui expecting stern test

With a place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup at stake, Wolves arrive at the City Ground dreaming of cup heroics.

They almost did that on Saturday but had a goal disallowed in the FA Cup against Liverpool, and Lopetegui is now expecting a sterner test tonight.

He said: “It will be a much harder match than Liverpool for sure. It will also be different for different reasons and much harder.

“We have to be ready to have a different answer. We are fighting for a semi-final and we are aware of what we can win, so we have to be ready and know it will be a hard task.

“We have ambition to overcome a good team in Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest.”

When asked why it will be harder, he added: “Why? Because we are playing for a semi-final against a difficult team who will play against us with a big energy and a big commitment, and we have to be in the same way.

“It will be different. A different team, a different contest and that’s why I’m sure we have a very hard match in front of us.”

Dexter Lembikisa got his first senior start at the weekend and impressed, while fellow academy graduate Joe Hodge continues to provide a spark in midfield.

The head coach has also now confirmed that the pair are considered part of the first-team group.

When asked about Lembikisa’s progress, Lopetegui said: “He’s 19, a good guy, he wants to learn more.

“I think he has good physical strengths and he has improved a lot of things, as have all the players. He is working in a good direction and a good commitment.

“He is very young and has to keep this for a lot of years. The more difficult thing is not to arrive, it is to stay.

“The young academy players, Dexter and Hodgey, they are working very hard and showing good character, good personality.

“It is good for them, it’s good for the team, it’s good for the club, and good for the academy. I hope that there are more players from the academy because the best thing a club can have is that the young players come at a level to be in the first team.”

Joao Moutinho, Daniel Podence and Diego Costa all missed the Liverpool game with knocks and will be assessed for tonight, while Rayan Ait-Nouri is another potential doubt.

“Maybe someone can be ready, we will check (today),” Lopetegui added.

“At the moment we don’t have a 100 per cent guarantee that they will be ready. This is the truth.

“Rayan is one other player that we are waiting for, we don’t know. We have three or four players, before and after the match, who we have to wait for to know more on any little injuries. We will see.”

Opposition view

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper is looking for a response against Wolves tonight after their FA Cup exit at Blackpool.

The third-round tie at the weekend saw Forest thumped 4-1 by the Seasiders, who are currently 22nd in the Championship.

Cooper afterwards described it as “unacceptable”, adding: “We let ourselves down at the weekend and I really hope we can respond and do better in this one.”

The 43-year-old, who made 11 changes to his starting line-up for Saturday’s contest, added: “The Blackpool game came at the end of a busy week where we’d played on the Sunday and Wednesday (a 1-1 draw at home against Chelsea and 1-0 win at Southampton, both in the Premier League)...and just because of the injury list, I couldn’t run the risk of picking up more.

“But, at the same time, the team we put out was more than capable of winning that match, and I say that completely respectfully to Blackpool, who obviously did well on the day. The moments in the game were the unacceptable bits, the goals we conceded and the chances we missed.

“(With) the mentality we are growing at this club at the moment with this group of players, that was what we don’t want to be. But the players knew that, and at the same time, as disappointing as it was, I’m not so narrow-minded to think it’s like that every day with those players.

“It’s not, and because of that, I have to trust them that they don’t let that happen again, and we move forward going into the next game and try to pick the right team to play the game plan that’s needed to be a success against Wolves.”

Cooper has been contending with a considerable injury list, and said there were “quite a few doubts” for Wednesday, without giving any names.