Nottingham Forest injury update (Niakhate, Awoniyi, Felipe) provided ahead of Arsenal match.
Nottingham Forest news as Steve Cooper’s Reds prepare for their Premier League debut against Arsenal.
Moussa Niakhate and Taiwo Awoniyi, according to head coach Steve Cooper, are injury doubts for Nottingham Forest’s Premier League debut this weekend.
The Reds kick off their 2023/24 season against Arsenal on Saturday (12.30 pm kickoff). Although center-back Niakhate (dislocated elbow) and striker Awoniyi (ankle) are “just about returning to training,” Cooper believes the match at Emirates Stadium will be too soon for the pair.
Due to a knee injury, the Welshman has ruled defender Felipe out of the game. Attacker Brennan Johnson, on the other hand, is fit to play after recuperating from an ankle injury suffered while on international duty earlier this summer.
Cooper responded when asked who is unavailable against the Gunners: “Felipe, for sure.” Moussa and Taiwo are both set to return to training, therefore the game may come too soon for them.
“Brennan has been back for a few weeks. He’s in good shape. He returned to pre-season with an injury sustained during the international games at the end of our season, which was terrible.
“But we had the summer and the majority of pre-season to deal with that.” He has devoted to his rehab admirably, as he does to everything else. As soon as he could, he was back on the practice field.
“It was fantastic to have him involved last week. We gave him some minutes last week during his second full week back in training. He’s definitely in the running for the weekend.”
Forest travel to London hoping to improve on their away record from previous season. Cooper’s men won just one game on the road in 2022/23 on their journey to survival.
