Cox playing with pain to fight off Forest rivals

In the space of four days, the Nottingham Forest striker went from fearing he could spend up to two months on the sidelines with a broken left foot to netting a breathtaking goal that helped maintain the Reds' unbeaten start to the Championship.

But the 25-year-old revealed he had also suffered a more painful injury to his right foot -- which he used to lift a delightful finish over England keeper Jack Butland on Saturday -- while playing for Ireland against Oman last Tuesday.

"I have a bigger bruise on my right foot than I do on the left, which is the one we feared was fractured," said Cox. "I had taken a tackle early on in the Ireland game which gave me a huge bruise on my right foot."

Cox feared he could be ruled out until November, before scans revealed there was no break -- and he admitted his biggest worry was losing his place in the Forest team, with a fierce fight for places.

"That was massively in the back of my mind. You don't have people like Billy Sharp and Dexter (Blackstock) with you in the squad and just expect to play every week," he said.

"As soon as I felt I was going to be out for a little while, I thought to myself that it could take me a while to get back in. So when the scans were clear, I was eager to get back out there to prove I was ready.

"The international break is a pain, in some ways. It gives the other lads the chance to impress in training while you are away.

"If you go away with your international side, if you get injured or whatever -- and somebody else comes in and does well -- you can be sat on the sidelines very quickly."