Nottingham Forest set to be without five players at Hull City as Tigers have clean bill of health

Forest had hoped to take the fight for automatic promotion to the final day but their aim of finishing second was ended by a 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

They head to Yorkshire to face Hull on Saturday aiming to pip Huddersfield Town to third place. Given that the lowest his side can finish is fourth, Cooper will not be selecting players carrying knocks.

Steve Cook is unlikely to play a part after his father suffered a cardiac arrest before the fixture against Bournemouth on Tuesday, with club giving the defender their “full support”.

Ryan Yates will be checked for Forest ahead of the trip to East Yorkshire, as the midfielder picked up a knock to the shoulder during the midweek loss to Bournemouth.

“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t carrying some knocks and some ongoing medical issues with some players, like Yatesy with his shoulder,” said Cooper.

“There’s certainly some situations where we won’t take any risks. We played eight games in April, followed quickly by another one on Tuesday night. Nine games in nearly a month is really heavy going and it will take its toll. And it has.

“But we are in great shape, confidence is high and spirits are really good. We feel very confident about the situation that we’re in. Will there be a different approach to the weekend? Some of it will be forced a little bit and there will be some things we have to think about.

“I don’t think you can say anything is the right or wrong plan. You have to go with what you think, and taking all sorts of information on board, from medical, sports science and what you see from the players.

“In the end, all players will want to play. They will want to finish the season strong and try to finish third. If people are carrying niggles and knocks, this isn’t the time to take risks. But I’m also not sure it’s the time for people who are feeling good to stop.

“We’re going through the process as normal. I’ll decide on the team in due course, and what we think is the right plan to try to win the game and finish third."

Keinan Davis (hamstring) and Max Lowe (groin) are still expected to be sidelined for tomorrow's visitors. Lewis Grabban also misses out with a hamstring injury he picked up against Peterborough and has missed the last three games for Forest.

Meanwhile, Hull have no fresh injury concerns ahead of their Sky Bet Championship clash with Nottingham Forest. Midfielder Regan Slater could line up again after coming off the substitutes’ bench in the defeat to Bristol City at the weekend.

Goalkeeper Matt Ingram is unavailable for the Tigers after joining Luton on an emergency loan. Midfielder Randell Williams is still sidelined as he recovers from a knee injury, but is back in training.