Nottingham Forest v Hull City: Grant McCann is looking for swift response from Tigers

The Tigers had gone five games unbeaten before losing to Huddersfield Town, then Queens Park Rangers. A trip to title-chasing Nottingham Forest might not be the ideal next fixture, but McCann, who took over as manager from Nigel Adkin in the summer, will be interested to see how his players react.

“Saturday was disappointing for everyone involved but the good thing about this league is that the games come quick and fast,” the former Northern Ireland international said.

“We were on a decent run of form – going five games unbeaten – but now we’ve had a couple of defeats on the bounce it’s important to produce a response.

“We’ve picked the bones out of the QPR defeat and we go again with the trip to Nottingham Forest.

“We know we’re in for another tough test. Every game in this league is tough and we expect nothing different from a Forest side that has started the season very well.

“We’re under no illusions about how tough it will be but we’ll embrace the challenge and everyone is very much looking forward to it.”

McCann at least has no fresh injuries to deal with.

Weekend goalscorer Josh Magennis and midfielders Daniel Batty and Leonardo Da Silva Lopes will all be hoping for the chance to change their team’s fortunes. With Jordy de Wijs still sidelined by an ankle injury, Ryan Tafazoli is expected to continue in the centre of defence.

With his club’s two best players blocking his path to the team, winger Josh Bowler is unlikely to get that chance but he is confident his team-mates will rise to McCann’s challenge.

“The one positive is that we can bounce back and show what we’re about on Wednesday,” said Bowler, who has Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki for competition. “I think all the lads are raring to get into that game and have an impact on that game. We want to go there and win it.

“We’re confident with the players we’ve got in the dressing room that we can get a result. We need to be ruthless and when the chances come, and I’m sure they will, we need to take them.”

Last six: Forest WLWDWL Hull City DWDWLL

Referee: O Langford (West Midlands)

Previous meeting: Nottingham Forest 3 Hull City 0, March 9, 2019, Championship