Nottingham Forest travel to Ipswich Town for a Premier League match at Portman Road on Friday 23 October 2026, with kick-off at 8pm UK time. The visitors are in the bottom three after a poor start under new head coach Oliver Glasner, and they will hope to ease the pressure on a manager who has been in the job only since July.
Forest have won one of their first seven league games and were second-bottom on five points as of 21 October. Their latest setback came on Sunday 18 October, when they lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal. That result dropped them into the relegation zone and left them still waiting for their first home league goal of the season, a statistic that has followed the club through the opening weeks.
Noni Madueke scored the only goal in the 80th minute. His shot deflected off Jair Cunha and wrong-footed goalkeeper Matz Sels. It was Arsenal's only shot on target, so Forest were beaten by one late moment. The win took Arsenal to 18 points, three behind leaders Manchester City. Forest's home record now stands at one point and zero goals, which leaves them 19th.
Glasner believes his side have deserved more from their games this season, and the team news ahead of the trip is encouraging. Morgan Gibbs-White missed the Arsenal match with a minor muscle injury but has trained all week and will be fit for Ipswich. Nikola Milenkovic, who was already on the bench against Arsenal, is also ready to start, according to the head coach.
Asked about the midfielder's condition, Glasner was clear. "Yes, he's ready, he trained for the entire week, so no issues," the Forest head coach said of Gibbs-White. Glasner has not spoken to club owner Evangelos Marinakis about the difficulties the team have faced so far this season, and the focus within the squad is on the task at Portman Road.
Glasner became Forest's fifth head coach in under a year when he was appointed in July. He replaced Vitor Pereira, who had kept the club in the top flight and led them to the Europa League semi-finals. The other managers in that 12-month spell were Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Pereira, which underlines how much change the club has been through recently.
Glasner arrived from Crystal Palace, where in 2½ years he won an FA Cup, a Community Shield and a Europa Conference League. Forest finished 16th last season and flirted with relegation. Striker Liam Delap, a £45m signing, returns on Friday to Ipswich, where his career took off, and his fortunes and those of Glasner are closely linked as Forest chase a first league win in weeks.
