Steve Cooper has dropped a hint that Nottingham Forest defender Moussa Niakhate could feature at Tottenham. The Reds defender hasn’t been seen since the second match of the season when Forest defeated West Ham.
The man who pledged his international allegiance to Senegal is now close to a return. His hamstring problem has cleared up and he’s back in full training with the first team.
Niakhate has been a huge miss to Forest. In the two games he has played, he’s looked like a sound addition to the squad and it’s a shame that he hasn’t been able to feature more often.
Forest added the defender from Mainz in the summer. They paid around £12 million for the 26-year-old and he departed the club having captained them for 18 months.
Now, a return could be extremely close. Cooper has provided an update and it would appear as though the Reds supporters could get to see Niakhate on Saturday at Tottenham.
The head coach told Nottinghamshire Live: “He’s not far away. He’s not quite ready yet. He needs another good week’s training before maybe thinking about putting him on the bench.”
Cooper has dropped a hint that Niakhate could feature at Tottenham
It would be huge to get Niakhate back in the matchday squad. The player travelled to West Ham recently and he was again spotted at the City Ground on Sunday.
The next step is getting him back involved on the pitch. Niakhate has been sorely missed by Cooper and he would dearly love to have him as an option for his team.
Joe Worrall and Felipe are the only two central defensive options available to Cooper at the moment. As a result, a return for Niakhate would be most welcomed and hopefully, Forest can get him involved on Saturday.