Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper has provided an update on the fitness of Omar Richards. The defender has not played for the Reds since signing for the club over a year ago.
Forest have now started their campaign and they don’t really have a proper left-back. It would have been great to have had Richards back by now but sadly he’s not been available.
Shortly after signing for the Reds, he suffered a hairline fracture of his shin. He recovered from that injury but disaster struck once again when he required surgery on a troublesome hernia issue.
Forest man Richards has been edging back towards full fitness. During the summer, he’s been spotted on a number of training videos and images, however, he’s not taken part in any of the pre-season friendlies.
Cooper has now been quizzed on the defender. He’s provided an update and it’s hard not to feel some sympathy for the 25-year-old who is yet to play for the Reds.
MORE FOREST STORIES
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “With him being out for so long, getting back up to the demands of a Premier League training environment means he has just got to get his body robust enough.
“Unfortunately once he gets to a certain level, he keeps getting little knocks and niggles that keep him out for another week or two weeks. He’s continuing to get through that.
“He’s had so much back luck. We’re trying to recover and rehab the small injuries while trying to build his body to be strong enough so that when he comes back he can handle it.
“He just needs a bit of luck. We’re working with him; he’s very much part of what we’re doing. He just needs a stroke of luck.”
Cooper delivers update on Forest man Richards
This is a real blow for the Reds. Richards was pretty good during his time at Bayern Munich and it’s a real shame that Forest fans haven’t been able to see him in action just yet.
Hopefully, his luck can change in the near future. Forest are yet to add a left-back to their ranks and they’d surely welcome the chance to have Richards back available.
At 25, he’s at a nice age to play in Cooper’s team. He will feel that he can get a lot out of the talented player but he simply needs him to get himself fit first.
Hopefully, Forest can get Richards on the pitch very soon. They desperately need some luck across the board with injuries and none more so than with Richards.