Exeter vs Nottingham Forest predicted XI as Nuno makes nine changes from Brighton win

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Nottingham Forest will be hoping to reach round five of the FA Cup tonight as the team makes a long trip to League One outfit Exeter City.

The Reds progressed to this stage by beating Luton Town, whilst the Grecians came through against Championship outfit Oxford United.

Forest will know that a tough test lies in waiting against a third-tier opposition. Nuno Espirito Santo has some injuries to contend with too and that could mean a rotated team.

The winners of tonight’s contest will play Ipswich Town on home soil and that does throw up a great opportunity to reach the quarter-final of the FA Cup this season.

Ahead of tonight’s game – and based on Espirito Santo’s comments about his team selection – we’ve looked at how Forest might line up tonight.

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Predicted Nottingham Forest XI vs Exeter

The Forest rearguard

It’s highly likely that there will be changes aplenty here, with Carlos Miguel almost certainly coming in between the posts to replace Matz Sels.

At centre-back, Morato could get more minutes after starting against Brighton last time out, with Willy Boly also getting a run-out.

Alex Moreno hasn’t been starting games regularly but he should get the nod to start this contest at left-back, with Eric da Silva Moreira coming in at right-back.

The Forest engine room

Ryan Yates was an unused substitute against Brighton and we fancy that he will captain the team down in Devon this evening.

Alongside him, this could be the ideal game for Ibrahim Sangare to get some more minutes under his belt after returning from injury against Brighton last time out.

Leading the Forest line

Forest failed to sign a striker in the January transfer window so risking Chris Wood here would be risky. We expect Taiwo Awoniyi to try and build his match sharpness up in this one instead.

Behind him, we fancy Jota Silva to come in and play on the right wing, with Ramon Sosa playing on the left after his goal and assist in the last-round win over Luton.

Through the middle, Danilo is also craving some game time and perhaps Espirito Santo will deploy the Brazilian as the number 10 tonight.

Predicted XI: Miguel, Moreira, Boly, Morato, Moreno; Yates, Sangare; Silva, Danilo, Sosa; Awoniyi