Nottingham Forest lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday but remained in third place in the Premier League table.
The one seriously worrying aspect of Forest at the moment is the number of injuries that are beginning to stack up.
Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi missed the game with Manchester United, although the latter did return to the fold against Villa on Saturday.
Ola Aina is injured after picking up a calf problem against United, whilst Anthony Elanga was withdrawn at half-time at Villa Park at the weekend.
If Elanga is out for any period of time it could provide one squad player with a golden chance to truly show Nuno Espirito Santo just how good he is.
Ramon Sosa has golden chance to prove himself at Forest
This could be the moment that the little Paraguayan has been waiting all season for.
No professional ever wishes injury on a teammate but with Elanga potentially out of action, Sosa must realise that the time is now for him to respond.
It wasn’t long back that it was being claimed that Sosa had fallen out with Espirito Santo over a lack of game time during the 2024/25 campaign.
Sosa signed for around £9 million from Argentine outfit Talleres during the summer and at 25-years-old, it was anticipated he’d be playing plenty of games.
The winger scored his first Forest goal in a Premier League draw with Brighton in October and has since followed that up with FA Cup goals against Luton and Exeter.
However, the form of Elanga and Hudson-Odoi has limited his game time and up until recently, Espirito Santo had not been including him in his matchday squads.
Sosa is fighting for his future at Forest
At 25, the player wants to play football and there is no getting away from that.
It’s not as though he’s a youngster who will be willing to sit on his hands, bide his time and appreciate every opportunity that comes his way.
Whether he’s playing in England or in South America, he will want to be on the team sheet week in and week out in the next couple of years as he approaches his peak.
Sosa hasn’t done that at Forest just yet, although he has looked pretty impressive – albeit in small doses – when called upon.
If Elanga is injured for a period of time this would represent a great time for Espirito Santo to give Sosa a run of games.
If the reports are to be believed, he’s perhaps not been overly impressed with him but he might have little choice but to give him a proper chance if the news on Elanga is bad.
When Sosa does next get an opportunity, the ball is firmly in his court…
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