Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espírito Santo has provided an update on the fitness of Super Eagles duo Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi who have both been out of action for over two weeks.
Ola Aina sustained a calf-related injury in Forest’s 1-0 win over Manchester United, substituted in the 39th minute for Alex Moreno before Nuno’s men held on to achieve a historic league double over the Red Devils.
On the other hand, Taiwo Awoniyi was withdrawn in the 86th minute for Ibrahim Sangare but missed the next game against Aston Villa and has not returned to training since then.
In his pre-match press conference, Nuno clarified that the Nigerian duo were still carrying some problems: “We have to assess them. In the training session they were not with the group, they were carrying some problems. It’s gonna be day by day.”
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While their fitness remains uncertain, Nottingham Forest will be desperate to secure victory against Tottenham on Monday after back-to-back losses to Aston Villa and Everton.
Due to their recent results, the team dropped to fourth on the table and now lead seventh-placed Aston Villa by only three points, putting their Champions League hopes in jeopardy if they don’t defeat Tottenham.
However, Nuno Espírito insists that his team have embraced the pressure, asserting that they will do everything to achieve their objectives at the end of the season.
“The expectation around us started the moment that we were able to really perform and get results. There was the expectation to achieve something that was not in the initial plans, to fight for the competitions we are fighting for at the moment,” the gaffer said.
“We are delighted, we embrace the challenge. It’s not stepping back, we’re stepping in. We want to embrace it, we want to try and get it. It’s going to be very hard but believe me we are stepping in and doing everything that we have in this final moments of the season,” he added.
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