Sky Bet Championship: Nottingham Forest captain Jack Hobbs ruled out for a month

Nottingham Forest have been dealt an injury blow with the news that captain Jack Hobbs will be out for around a month.

However, fellow central defenders Kelvin Wilson and Michael Mancienne are about to make a timely return to contention.

Hobbs suffered a hamstring problem during the thrilling 4-4 draw with Blackpool on Saturday, with Reds boss Dougie Freedman blaming the poor condition of the Bloomfield Road pitch for the injury.

Mancienne was left out of that game as a precaution, as the state of the playing surface was deemed too hard as he returns from an ankle injury.

Wilson trained on Tuesday while Mancienne is expected to train with the rest of the squad on Wednesday, with both players expected to be back in the reckoning for the Championship clash with Bolton at the weekend.

"Unfortunately it is a heavy workload in the Championship and the players have to be prepared for that," Freedman told the Nottingham Post, as he prepares to face his former club on Saturday.

"Three games in a week were a little bit too much for Jack. He is a strong character but we need to make sure he is right now. Hopefully in three or four weeks time he will be fine.

"He will be out for around that length of time. But Kelvin Wilson is back in training and Michael Mancienne will be as well.

"He (Mancienne) should have been training (on Tuesday) but we decided to be cautious as the pitch was a little bit hard. But he is back and will be involved in training (on Wednesday).

"Jack is going to be missing for three or four weeks. It is a blow when you lose Britt (Assombalonga) and your captain in the space of a few days.

"That might lower expectations, perhaps. But we are a team, we are strong and we do have options. We have Mancienne and Wilson available, they should be fit for this weekend."