Nottingham Forest owner Nigel Doughty has been found dead in the gym of his Lincolnshire home, aged 54.

The Nottinghamshire-born businessman, whose empire comes from a European equity firm, bought the club in 1999 and acted as chairman until his resignation in October of last year.

He first purchased a 40% stake in the Midlands club to save them from administration before investing a further 45% in 2001 after clearing the club’s mounting debts.

A statement on the club’s website read: “It is with enormous sadness that Nottingham Forest announce the death of the club’s owner Nigel Doughty.

“The club would like to appeal for the privacy of Mr Doughty’s family to be observed at this sad time.”

It is estimated that Doughty invested more than £100m during his tenure at the City Ground.

The Garibaldi Red podcast discusses Danilo and where he will fit into the side after his return to the Nottingham Forest in the coming weeks

Nottingham Forest already have intense competition for places in midfield and that will only be heightened when Danilo returns from injury.

The young Brazilian has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury and will have to sit out the visit of Brentford on Sunday as well. Manager Steve Cooper has confirmed Danilo is back on the training pitch, but is not yet working with the rest of the group.

The 20-year-old finished last season in sensational form with three goals but was less effective at the start of this term.

With this in mind, Danilo’s status was discussed on the latest Garibaldi Red podcast after a listener suggested the former Palmeiras man had been ‘forgotten’. Here’s a look at what panellists Arsher Ali and Michael Temple had to say.

Arsher Ali: “I don’t think he would come straight back in. I want to see a bit more of Dominguez. He was very good against Man City so it will be interesting to see how he does against more comparable teams to us.

“The games Danilo did play this season, he looked a bit like he did at the beginning when he came here. He looked a little unsure of his position. If we see the Danilo of the end of last season then of course he comes straight back in.

“With the arrival of Dominguez, I think that changes the conversation. You can’t say Danilo is a bench guy now but you want that competition. I don’t think he comes straight back in though.”