Ola Aina’s injury has been a difficult problem for Nottingham Forest to solve, but in the buildup to Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final, he has dropped an interesting hint about his fitness.
Aina was seen on crutches after the Aston Villa defeat, which left Reds fans concerned as it seemed that little progress had been made on him rejoining the Forest squad for the crucial run-in.
Spawning from the Manchester United victory, Nuno Espirito Santo was concerned for Aina as his withdrawal came without being on the end of a nasty challenge, leaving the Forest manager worried about his star right-back’s chances of influencing the Champions League push.
It’s the FA Cup semi-final before that, though, and Aina has provided a potentially promising update on his chances of a return to action.
Ola Aina’s promising injury update ahead of FA Cup semi-final
It was suggested at the time that Aina could be fit to face Manchester City. Still, without any evidence to suggest that he is close to returning, Forest fans have resigned themselves to being without the Nigerian international at Wembley.
However, speaking to Gary Lineker on The Rest is Football, Aina has given the most encouraging update on his fitness thus far.
On the injury itself, Aina said: “I tore my calf, but not too bad though, it was a little grade 2, so it’s not a bad one.”
When asked about returning to the pitch, he added: “Hopefully [soon], I’m just taking it day by day to be fair. It’s come along really well, but yeah, just taking it day by day.”
Aina is a naturally positive character, but still, his enthusiasm about the injury and its progress could indicate that the initial suggestion he could return to face City at Wembley wasn’t far off at all.
If he doesn’t make it, though, Forest will have a particular issue on their hands due to the suspension of Neco Williams.
Neco Williams is suspended for the FA Cup semi final
Having been a position of such consistency for so long, Espirito Santo won’t be able to believe his luck that he could be without both of his first-choice fullbacks at Wembley against City.
Williams picked up a yellow card against Brighton in the quarter-final, so he will miss the trip to Wembley, leaving Harry Toffolo and Alex Moreno as the remaining fit senior fullbacks.
Toffolo impressed against Spurs on Monday and Moreno’s quality is unquestioned, but both naturally prefer to play on the left side so the Forest coaching staff have their work cut out to find a solution.
Of course, the option remains to play three central defenders, but Morato’s difficult display against Aston Villa may make the difficulties at fullback more favourable to remain in the familiar system.
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