Ange Postecoglou shares Murillo return timeline after Nottingham Forest absence vs Swansea

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Nottingham Forest were without Murillo for the 3-2 defeat against Swansea City, with Ange Postecoglou now providing an update on the Brazilian’s fitness.

Willy Boly struggled against Swansea in a pairing with Morato, potentially highlighting the drop-off when Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic are left out.

The Brazilian star wasn’t available for the trip to South Wales, though, after Murillo limped off against Arsenal with a knock rather than anything too serious.

Postecoglou was hopeful Murillo would be fit for Burnley on Saturday after showing signs of improvement early in the week, with the head coach now providing a fresh update on the eve of the match.

Murillo remains a ‘doubt’ for Burnley trip

Data has shown that Murillo is Forest’s most valuable player in terms of transfer valuation, so missing the Brazilian for an extended period would be detrimental to the Reds’ season.

According to Postecoglou, though, his squad may have to cope without the centre-back for another game, with Murillo’s fitness still in doubt.

Postecoglou said: “He’s still a doubt. He did some individual work today. We’ll give him a little bit more time because he’s still a little bit sore. It’s just a matter of whether he can cope with that, so we’ll delay the decision, but he’s a doubt.”

At this early stage of the season, Postecoglou is being rightly careful with his star defender, especially given that he’s already lost one starter due to Ola Aina’s hamstring injury.

Forest’s first Europa League fixture immediately follows the Burnley game, too, something that the Australian is keeping at the back of his mind regarding Murillo.

Murillo should be ready to face Real Betis on Wednesday

The Reds travel to Seville to play Real Betis in their opening clash of the league phase on Wednesday, in what is their most difficult of the eight games on paper.

Postecoglou will want to travel with his strongest XI, then, which makes the availability of Murillo particularly crucial.

On the Betis game, he added: “Thankfully, it’s nothing too serious. So if he [Murillo] doesn’t make tomorrow, he should definitely be right for Wednesday.”

If there’s even a slight chance that Murillo could be fit to face Burnley, Postecoglou will have a difficult call to make as to whether to risk his chances of also playing against Betis on Wednesday.