Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has revealed that Super Eagles defender Ola Aina is finally back in contention to make the matchday squad ahead of the Tricky Trees’ Premier League clash against surprise title contenders Aston Villa on Saturday, Footynaija.com reports.
Aina has spent the last four months recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained back in September while away on international duty with Nigeria. The 29-year-old, who underwent surgery and has since missed 31 matches for both club and country.
While he couldn’t recover in time to be part of Nigeria’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations campaign, it appears Aina is now edging closer to making a full comeback as Nottingham Forest gear up for a tough trip to Villa Park.
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Sean Dyche’s update on Ola Aina
“Obviously Ola (Aina) comes back into the group, which is good,” Dyche told Nottingham Post.
“I am learning about him, I know he is a good character. I managed teams that have played against him so I know about the pace and power he has got.
“We are looking forward to getting him back involved. He is in contention to come back into the group.
“He has put a lot of miles on the clock (on the training ground), not so many game hours, because of the situation. But his injury is fine, he feels fine, he is back into the group.”
Aina’s potential availability comes as a massive boost for Dyche and Forest as they aim to do further damage to Aston Villa’s title aspirations. The Villans were on a run of eight consecutive Premier League wins before suffering a 4-1 humbling at the hands of Arsenal in their last outing.
Nottingham Forest themselves are on a disappointing run of three straight losses in the league and with just four points separating them from the relegation zone, they desperately need to get points on the board. All is set for a highly competitive clash at Villa Park on Saturday.
