Burton Albion's clash with Nottingham Forest on Saturday could come too soon for Ben Turner and Luke Murphy - but Liam Boyce is likely to feature again as he continues to move closer to a first League start.

While Tom Flanagan was always set to miss this weekend's game with a calf injury - and could yet be out for another two or three weeks - Burton will be keen to have Turner and Murphy back after they missed Saturday's draw at Ipswich Town.

Turner, though, will not train before Friday as he looks to overcome a calf problem. Murphy, meanwhile, has had the 12 stitches removed from his shin injury and is a doubt.

Luke Murphy could be out again with a cut shin
Luke Murphy could be out again with a cut shin

Nigel Clough is urging caution with both ahead of the weekend, and believes the same squad from the Ipswich game is likely to be called upon against Forest - although John Brayford and Lloyd Dyer are also carrying knocks.

"Luke Murphy has had his stitches out, the 12 stitches in his shin injury," said the Burton boss.

"It's not 100 per cent healed, so we've got to be careful with that.

"Ben Turner, the same with his calf injury - he won't be training before Friday, so we'll see how he is.

"Tom Flanagan is still out.

"So it'll probably be the same 18, not necessarily the same formation or team, but the same 18 (from Ipswich).

"John Brayford got a knock on Saturday, he's not training this week.

John Brayford picked up a knock against Ipswich Town
John Brayford picked up a knock against Ipswich Town

"Lloyd Dyer has a tight calf.

"But everybody else will be fine after Tuesday night (and the Birmingham Senior Cup quarter-final defeat to Hednesford Town).

"Liam Boyce was the main one, to make sure he got 45 minutes injury-free and get him off."

That is exactly what happened at a bitterly cold Keys Park, with the Northern Ireland international coming unscathed through his first 45-minute appearance since rupturing his ACL in July.

Liam Boyce clips home his first Burton Albion goal on his Brewers debut at Aston Villa

Albion are hopeful of getting Boyce some more Championship minutes this weekend against Forest, too, though Clough will not be rushing him into the starting XI.

"Any time he gets on the pitch at this stage is good for him and good for us," added Clough about that Birmingham Senior Cup outing.

"Results and things don't matter, the pitch was not perfect for him but he battled away.

"It was just a good 45 minutes, and hopefully we'll get him some more minutes on Saturday.

"It's just a case of seeing how it goes.

"He's probably still not up to starting at the moment, so it's just building it up.

"We've got to remember that he's ahead of schedule as well - he's a few weeks ahead of where we thought he would be, so we've got to bear that in mind.

"The last thing we want to happen is for him to break down and do something.

"Secondary injuries are always a problem when you are coming back from six or seven months out."