Nottingham Forest fans have received some positive injury news ahead of their match against Arsenal, but various players remain absent.
With Arsenal set to travel to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night, the hosts are guaranteed to be without at least a few of their first-choice players.
A large portion of the Forest squad are still away at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Ibrahima Sangare, Olaoluwa Aina, Moussa Niakhate, Cheikhou Kouyate, Willy Boly, and Serge Aurier all set to miss the Arsenal match as a result.
Nuno Tavares will also be absent, as he’s unable to face his parent club.
As for the injuries, Divock Origi has been ruled out of the match, with manager Nuno Espirito Santo confirming that the striker is still injured.
The good news for Forest is that three players have returned to first-team training – Felipe, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Anthony Elanga.
Felipe and Elanga had been out with thigh injuries, whilst Awoniyi had an injury in the pelvic region.
All three are now back in training, though the suggestion is that the Arsenal game might come too early, with a decision still to be made on Awoniyi and Elanga when Santo spoke to the media on Monday.
“Taiwo is in the process of recovering and getting the fitness levels right,” Santo said.
“Anthony made two training sessions and Taiwo the same.
“It was our decision to bring them to the group. Instead of waiting for them to be 100% ready, we decided to bring them in, and after that, we will decide.”
Elanga appears to be the closest to a return of the three, and it would be typical for an injured former Manchester United player to make his comeback and perform well against Arsenal.
But with Nottingham Forest dealing with so many injuries and AFCON absentees at the moment, Arsenal can have no complaints ahead of Tuesday’s game.