Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo provided updates on the injured members of his squad including Nigeria internationals Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Everton, Footynaija.com reports.
Awoniyi and Aina are currently enduring spells on the sidelines after both players suffered various injuries while in action for the Tricky Trees. Both players’ setbacks came in Forest’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United with Awoniyi pulling his hamstring while Aina suffered a calf injury.
Due to the unfortunate setbacks, the two Super Eagles stars were forced to sit out Nottingham Forest’s crucial trip to Villa park which saw them finish on the wrong end of 2-1 result against Aston Villa.
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Update on Awoniyi
Speaking to reporters ahead of another crucial game against Everton, Nuno revealed that Awoniyi alongside other injured Forest stars may need to be subjected to a late fitness assessment to determine their readiness for Saturday’s game.
“We are still assessing all of them. They are struggling with problems – some small, some not so small – but we have to assess them,” the Portuguese boss said as per Nottingham Post.
“We have one more day, and then we will see if they can be available for the game. We are hopeful on all of them. It can be all of them, or it can be none; we don’t know. It depends on how they recover and how they feel.
“We miss all the players when they are not available. Chris [Wood] has been giving us so many things. Unfortunately, the situation with T [Awoniyi] happened at the same time.
“We are trying to cope. Many of the players are not playing in their usual positions, so they are trying to adapt to different situations, but this is what it is about. It happens to other teams, and it happens to us now. We have to fix it.”
Update on Aina
However, in Aina’s case, there was a more certain update regarding his potential involvement.
“For this game, no, unfortunately not. For the next one, we hope. He is going to be assessed day by day. I don’t know how many hours he spends at the training ground receiving treatment, so we are trying to have him back as soon as possible,” Nuno confirmed.
