South Wales Evening Post

Jason Scotland and Angel Rangel are both in contention to start when Swansea City host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

But Roberto Martinez's Championship plans have suffered a heavy blow in the first few days of the season after new recruit Fede Bessone was ruled out for up to six weeks.

Scotland's clean bill of health is great news for Swansea, especially as fellow striker Gorka Pintado (thigh) is likely to remain under wraps this weekend.

The Trinidad & Tobago international was a central figure in the system Martinez used regularly last season, with two wingers operating either side of a solitary centre-forward.

Guillem Bauza filled the role willingly at Charlton last Saturday, but he prefers to play off another frontman.As a result, although Scotland is still short of match fitness following summer surgery on a stomach problem, Martinez looks poised to thrust him back into the starting line-up as Swansea bid to get their first Championship points on the board.

The Swansea boss could also include Rangel who made a surprise return in Tuesday's Carling Cup win over Brentford.

The full-back, one of the stars of last term at the Liberty, missed the whole of pre-season as a result of hernia surgery, and while he is now over that problem, the fact that Martinez also has Matty Collins and Alan Tate as right-back options could mean Rangel's return to the first XI could be put on hold.

"Jason is basically fit for selection now," said Swansea physio Richie Evans.

"He is still a bit down on his match fitness, but we are working on him constantly and he is working really hard on it.

"We will not rush him. The season is at least 48 games long and it's about making sure he can play a part all along, not just getting him to play in the third game.

"Angel is a little ahead of where we hoped he would be, and it might be that he is not 100 per cent until Plymouth.

"We will assess him today and tomorrow and judge whether he's fit to start this weekend."

The news is not so good for Bessone, who suffered a broken rib when he landed on an opponent's knee during the Brentford game.

After lasting just an hour on his Swansea debut, the Argentinian left-back faces a wait of between four and six weeks before he can make his next appearance.

With Bessone out, Martinez must keep his fingers crossed that Marcos Painter stays fit or Swansea will be without a left-sided defender.

Evans has insisted there are no concerns over Bauza's fitness despite the fact that the Spaniard needed an injection last week to ease pain in his ankle.

"Bussy has a bone spur in the back of his ankle joint which gives him discomfort at this time of year because of the hard pitches," he said.

"We gave him the same injection last year and he had no further problems and we expect the same thing to happen again this time around."

Martinez, meantime, has a midfield conundrum on his hands ahead of the Forest clash after Jordi Gomez's classy showing against Brentford.

"Jordi has a fantastic left foot and he gives us a different dimension," the Swansea manager said.

"He finds time when there is no right to find time, he has great vision and a great football brain.

"It's brilliant news for us that he is starting to get to grips with the tempo of British football."