The absence of Joe Garner will not impact the way Ipswich Town play when they host Nottingham Forest, manager Mick McCarthy has insisted.

Garner, who has led the line since arriving from Rangers in the summer, will miss the game against his former club as he continues to struggle with a foot injury, meaning Martyn Waghorn will start in a central position as he did at Derby on Tuesday night.

While Garner is a more physical proposition for defenders than Waghorn and more effective in the air, McCarthy has insisted the Blues will still approach the game against Forest in the same way.

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“I thought he was excellent,” McCarthy said of Waghorn’s display at Derby. “He really was a constant threat and held the ball up for us. He doesn’t just set things up and then stand still, he goes and gets in the box.

“He might not be as prolific in the air as Joe, but he’s as mobile and strong. We try to play the same way.”

With David McGoldrick also on the absentee list, Grant Ward is also set to get another chance from the start after impressing at Derby.

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McCarthy said: “We know the start he had here with his hat-trick (on his debut against Barnsley in August 2016) and he was penned in every week, but then we had a spell where we had four strikers on the pitch and they were all playing well.

“I just said to him ‘keep waiting for your chance and take it’. He certainly did that the other night.”