Nottingham Forest already have Ibrahim Sangare and Danilo recovering from injuries, and now one of Nuno Espirito Santo’s star men has had to return home from international duty.
The last thing Nottingham Forest will want is to have an injury to a key player derail their season after such a promising start to proceedings.
One positive that has occurred already during the international break is Morgan Gibbs-White’s cameo for England, as he laid it on a plate for Curtis Jones to score against Greece.
His fitness certainly appears to be improving, and he could yet earn more minutes against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday in the hope that he’s fit and ready to take on Arsenal.
However, a fresh concern has emerged to a player who has had a massive part to play up until this point.
Ola Aina returns home from international duty with Nigeria due to fitness concerns
Ola Aina has made the right-back position his own this season. This has helped Alex Moreno slot in on the opposite side of the defence.
As we all know, Aina scored an outrageous goal against West Ham not so long ago, which Callum Hudson-Odoi couldn’t believe as it flew into the top corner.
Amid concerns about Ola Aina’s fitness, he has flown back to England for a proper medical assessment ahead of Nottingham Forest clash against Arsenal.
All Nigeria Soccer have reported that Aina was attended to by the national team physios due to a knock he picked up during the matchday five clash at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.
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Ola Aina’s importance at Nottingham Forest
Ola Aina was described as ‘sensational’ by Alan Shearer for his performance against West Ham, as well as making Gabby Agbonlahor’s team of the week.
There are very few attackers that have gotten the better of him this season at right-back, and he offers an awful lot moving forward too as a former midfielder.
Arsenal have Gabriel Martinelli operating on the left-hand side and we all know how much pace he possesses, so Forest will be praying that Aina can recover in time.
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