How Murillo feels about his injury as new Nottingham Forest timeline is given

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Murillo was forced off after scoring the equalising goal against Crystal Palace on Monday, leaving Nottingham Forest fans with an anxious wait for an injury update.

Nuno Espirito Santo said Murillo needed a scan to understand fully the severity of the issue, which was immediately concerning, given that Callum Hudson-Odoi was injured recently, too.

Forest simply cannot afford to see their stars drop out of the squad due to injury at the moment, with the Champions League race as tight as it is. Simon Jordan thinks Forest would be better in the Europa League, but Espirito Santo’s side will push for the top five until the very end.

Having Murillo fit and available will be a crucial part of this push, with a fresh report giving Reds fans a timeline for their Brazilian sensation’s return.

Murillo making ‘progress’ as injury timeline revealed

Murillo struggled against Brentford last week, but it was a rare blemish on his Forest record, becoming one of European football’s most sought-after defensive talents with his consistency this season.

Losing him for the final weeks would be a disaster for the Forest manager, but the Daily Mail has issued a promising update that seems to rule that possibility out.

The report said: “The Brazilian defender [Murillo], who has been arguably Forest’s best player this term, was forced off at Selhurst Park late in the second half, limping heavily.

“While losing Murillo at such a crucial stage of the campaign would be a huge blow for Forest, Mail Sport understands he is making good progress and has not yet been ruled out of Sunday’s meeting with Leicester at the City Ground.”

A huge relief for everyone at the City Ground, Murillo could well play a part against Leicester on Sunday, but if not, he looks well placed to at least play a part in the final act of the campaign.

If he should miss Leicester, it’s worth looking at how Espirito Santo replaced Murillo in the only Premier League match he missed this season, away at Everton in December.

How Nottingham Forest fared without Murillo against Everton

In the match at Goodison Park, Murillo pulled up with an injury in the warm-up, which gave fellow Brazilian defender Morato the task of playing alongside Nikola Milenkovic.

Thankfully, Forest fans applauded Morato’s performance at Everton as he deputised admirably, helping his side keep a clean sheet and record a fifth consecutive Premier League win in what was the best run of form the Forest squad have managed this season.

Perhaps not as flashy a performance as we’re used to seeing from Murillo, Morato made a whopping 13 clearances to keep a rather direct Everton out of the Forest box, whilst winning his fair share of tackles and duels, too.

Morato made a costly mistake against Aston Villa recently, but should he need to replace Murillo once more, hopefully we will see more of what he showed against Everton instead.