OVER the next seven days, Nottingham Forest's injury list should finally shrink, just a little.

Wes Morgan, Ishmael Miller and Brendan Moloney should all return to action before the Reds face West Ham.

Steve Cotterill could, for the first time in a while, end up with some serious selection problems, of a positive variety.

Particularly when it comes to the talismanic defender and the powerful front man.

But, while the manager is happy to see a few players on the road to recovery, he believes the hangover of the injury problems Nottingham Forest have suffered this season could last rather longer.

To be precise, he fears they could have a lingering affect on the rest of the campaign.

Tomorrow, as the Reds take on Southampton at the City Ground, the biggest question on many fans' lips is over whether recent signing Marlon Harewood could be fit enough for a starting place.

But, for Cotterill, the striker's situation perfectly epitomises the issue Forest have with their squad, going into the second half of the campaign.

As he points out, there is a difference between being free from injury and being fully match fit.

And, with almost the entire Reds squad having suffered with injury problems or having stagnated through inactivity at some stage or another since the summer, Cotterill warns that the club must work carefully on their fitness levels.

"I don't know whether Marlon will get any fitter, if we throw him in there," said Cotterill. "He is not going to get any fitter between now and the end of the season and he probably isn't going to lose any fitness.

"There have not been too many people here who would have been as fit as I would have liked, had I had a pre-season with them.

"Garath McCleary had not played when I came in, Paul Anderson was out for a long time, Joel Lynch has been out for a while, now Wes Morgan is injured.

"I am not saying it is down to what happened in pre-season, I would not do that.

"I just don't know whether we have enough players here who have what I would call a good base in them.

"I am not sure we have enough players who can get through 90 minutes on a consistent basis – both through the injuries they have had and, in Marlon's case, because he has not played."

To be more specific, Cotterill points to the fact that, in the entire senior squad, Lee Camp, Luke Chambers, Chris Gunter and, once he had arrived late for pre-season after agreeing to return to the club, Guy Moussi are the only players not to have been sidelined for any length of time with injury this season.

"Of the outfield players, only a few regulars, who are still playing now, had that fitness," said Cotterill. "You are probably looking at Gunter and Chambers in defence. In the middle of the park you have Moussi, even though he has missed a few games.

"After that, we are struggling for that kind of player. Anderson has been out, McCleary has been out, Marcus Tudgay did not play at the start of the season.

"Miller has been injured, Matt Derbyshire has not been fit, nor has Dexter Blackstock.

"Chris Cohen, our biggest engine, has been injured.

"It has been a big influence on things.

"The only ones up to speed through the whole season have been Gunter and Chambers.

"It can make a massive difference, when you go through a run of games like the one we have just had – and the one we have coming up."

Cotterill says it is almost impossible to get a player up to full match fitness during a season, when they have been out for a long time.

"You are trying to get 90 minutes out of these players – particularly those players who you want to be explosive – and it can be a recipe for disaster," he said.

"It is tough. But I would say that we have done okay. Our football has been good. I just think we might have been better and able to play it for longer periods if we had been fitter.

"To get fit now, you have to almost push players to breaking point. When they have been injured, you can't push them close to breaking point, because the chances are you will push them beyond it.

"That makes things difficult. But you are asking me questions here, it is not me moaning or being bleak about things.

"I am just answering questions about the fitness levels of the players.

"I knew where we were when I came here. I knew all of this when I walked through the door. I knew what I was taking on and we will deal with it."

Those fitness levels will be carefully monitored this week, as Cotterill looks to find a way to spread his resources over three massive games.

After facing table-topping Southampton today, Forest face Leicester City in their FA Cup replay, before an even tougher trip to West Ham in the Championship.

A home tie against Swindon Town awaits the winners of the game at the King Power Stadium.

But Cotterill is refusing to get ahead of himself.

"I would not make a lot of the cup draw, even if it had been Manchester United away – because we have Leicester to play first and that is going to be a tough game," he said.

"I didn't want to be buoyed too much either way by our potential opposition.

"I need to see how this weekend's game goes, against Southampton, before we even think about Leicester, before I select a team for that game.

"Two days after the cup game, we travel down to London for the game against West Ham.

"So I have to look at the week, as a whole, quite carefully, when it comes to the three games.

"At this moment, it is our next game that always has to take priority, nothing more."

But, at the very least, whether it is when they face Leicester or West Ham, Forest could be boosted by the return of several key players from injury.