Chris Hughton has been sacked by Nottingham Forest, throwing another early spanner in the works for Arsenal loanee Jordi Osei-Tutu.

Jordi Osei-Tutu of Nottingham Forest in action during the Sky Bet Championship match between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth at the City Ground, Nottingham on Saturday 14th August 2021. Copyright: MI News
Jordi Osei-Tutu of Nottingham Forest in action during the Sky Bet Championship match between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth at the City Ground, Nottingham on Saturday 14th August 2021. Copyright: MI News

After yet another defeat on Wednesday night, Nottingham Forest confirmed the sacking of first-team manager Chris Hughton on Thursday morning. They added that Steven Reid would take over as an interim head coach as they search for a successor.

For injured Arsenal loanee Jordi Osei-Tutu, this looks like yet another complication. He’ll now have to hope the new manager views him in the same way Hughton did, as a player worth starting regularly this season.

As mentioned, Osei-Tutu is currently out with an injury. Ideally, he’ll complete his recovery before a permanent successor is appointed, so the new boss doesn’t arrive with the Arsenal full-back unavailable.

But there are no guarantees. Before his sacking, Hughton revealed last week that Osei-Tutu wouldn’t be up for selection for a few more weeks.

“Jordi is okay,” Hughton said. “He has a hamstring injury and we expect him to be back with us, but it will still be a number of weeks.

“It was a problem position for us earlier in the season. Once Jordi gets back fit, there will be a big level of competition, and I’d rather have that than where we’ve been.”

The Arsenal loan full-back picked up a hamstring injury in Forest’s game against Blackburn Rovers. That followed three hamstring setbacks with Cardiff City last season. Hughton confirmed this latest injury was to the same hamstring as before.

It’s looking like an October return is the most likely for the Arsenal loan right-back now, which would see him missing at least three more matches. After that, he’ll want to impress whichever manager is in charge and set himself up for the rest of the season.

Though he’s primarily a right-back, Osei-Tutu featured at left-back for Forest before his injury. Whether he continues on the left or shifts to the right will be another question for the new manager to answer.