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Nottingham Forest will look to bolster their attacking options with at least one new signing, if Ben Brereton does complete his expected move to Blackburn Rovers.

The teenage forward is close to a loan switch to Ewood Park with a view to a permanent move that would be worth between £6m and £7m to the Reds.

Karanka was coy about the situation on Saturday night – but did confirm a potential move was in the pipeline and Brereton had been left out of the squad for the 2-2 draw with Birmingham City, despite Lewis Grabban being ruled out by a minor Achilles injury, because the manager feared he might be distracted.

But the Reds boss did admit it would give the club a welcome "boost" if they could make new additions before the loan window closes on Friday.

“I have not heard anything, but anything can happen,” said Karanka, when asked if anything was close. “I have told you that all summer.

“Until the market is shut, as a manager, I am always open to signings and it would give us a boost to get a few signings in. Whenever new signings arrive, it is good for everyone.

“It is good for the players who are here and it is good for the manager to have options.

(Image: Ritchie Sumpter @ JMS Photograph)

“You can think that you have an amazing squad and amazing group of players, but you can still be missing something.”

Karanka confirmed discussions are going on with Blackburn over a move for 19-year-old Brereton.

“It is true that something is going on. I preferred to leave him out, because maybe his head is not 100 percent, so I decided to leave him out,” said Karanka. “I do not know what will happen. Things can happen in hours.

“With all the rumours and all the things happening, it is my thought that his head might not be 100 percent.

“I have been preparing for the game, so while I know that something is going on, I do not know the precise details.

“I do not want to be involved in every single thing, when we are preparing for games.”

(Image: Ritchie Sumpter @ JMS Photograph)

And, while Forest will look to bolster their forward options, with Nelson Oliveira, Tammy Abraham, Rudy Gestede and Jermain Defoe all understood to be on their list of targets, Karanka believes Forest have enough options to keep them going in the meantime, with a game against Newcastle United in the EFL Cup approaching on Wednesday.

“Yes, we do have Daryl Murphy and Hillal Soudani who can play as a number nine and we have Joao (Carvalho), Joe Lolley, Diogo Goncalves – we do have attacking options,” said Karanka.