Morgan Gibbs-White question no longer draws ‘howls of derision’ after Nottingham Forest transfer joy

Nottingham Forest have been without injured talisman Morgan Gibbs-White for the past two Premier League games

Will a fit-again Morgan Gibbs-White walk straight back into the Nottingham Forest starting XI?

Such a question would have been met with howls of derision not so long ago. If the Reds had been without the 24-year-old for any length of time in the last two seasons, fans could have been forgiven for breaking out in a cold sweat. No Gibbs-White on the team-sheet would have been cause for panic.

After last Friday’s 3-1 thumping of Leicester City, however, Gibbs-White’s absence barely made the cut as a talking point. Back-to-back wins achieved without their key man shows how far Forest have come.

Gibbs-White has been missed, of course; a player of his quality could hardly not be. Whenever he returns from his ankle injury – and it remains to be seen whether that will be against West Ham United on Saturday (3pm kick-off) – it will be a massive boost for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. And in all likelihood, he will indeed return to the starting line-up once he has fully recovered – after all, he is far too good to be on the bench.

But testament to the depth of quality in this squad is the fact that the Reds have successfully coped without the England international. Losing him has not been the crisis it might once have been.

When Gibbs-White missed last month’s defeat to Fulham due to suspension, Nuno got it wrong. The 4-4-2 experiment failed. But lessons were learned, and against Crystal Palace and Leicester the Portuguese stuck with what had worked and retained Forest’s familiar 4-2-3-1 set-up. Jota Silva might have been hoping to get the nod to start, but it was fellow summer signing Elliot Anderson handed the responsibility of the No 10 position in Gibbs-White’s absence.