Reiss Nelson is still yet to make the Brentford squad after injury, but manager Keith Andrews claims he’s finally back in training.
Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson has been struggling with a knock suffered in training at the start of December, with Brentford boss Keith Andrews repeatedly suggesting he’s on the verge of a comeback.
On December 11th, Andrews told the media that Nelson “should be in and around being available for Sunday (December 14th)”. But the winger didn’t make it back in time.
Then, on December 16th, Andrews denied a setback, but admitted Nelson would again be absent for the game against Manchester City the following day.
“Reiss won’t make this one,” Andrews admitted then. “We’ve pushed him as much as we can. He’s not too far off but tomorrow comes a bit too soon, unfortunately.”
“There definitely hasn’t been a setback,” Andrews insisted. “It was just a case of whether we felt it was right [to play Nelson against Leeds United]. We looked at his training loads and where he was at, and we felt it would have been a bit of a risk.”
The good news is that Andrews has now finally confirmed that Nelson is available again, saying on Tuesday: “He’s come back in a good place physically and gone straight in. He trained with the group today, so he’s back in and around it.”
With Brentford having a midweek break for Christmas, the hope is that Nelson will finally be fit against Bournemouth this Saturday, almost a month after his last appearance.
Nelson’s injury initially appeared to be nothing serious, only being described as a “knock”, but despite repeated suggestions that he’s on the verge of returning, he’s now on a five-game run out of action.
Let’s hope Andrews is right this time about the winger’s imminent comeback.