Arsenal face an in-form Nottingham Forest side this weekend, but the visitors to the Emirates Stadium are concerned about the fitness of a crucial player.
Nottingham Forest have received a potential boost ahead of this weekend’s match against Arsenal at The City Ground, with a new update on full-back Ola Aina’s injury situation.
The 28-year-old has been an important figure for Nuno Espirito Santo this season as Forest have performed well in the Premier League. Aina has started every game this season, including a goal against West Ham as the team climbed to fifth place.
This weekend’s meeting with the Gunners promises to be exciting. The in-form Nottingham Forest have proven difficult to beat this season, while Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have struggled for form in recent weeks, with draws against Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as defeats to AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United.
Aina is an important member of Nottingham Forest’s squad, and his absence due to injury would have benefited Arsenal. The full-back was on international duty with Nigeria during the international break, but returned to Forest early last week.
This happened following the nation’s 1-1 tie with Benin Republic on Thursday. Aina was replaced after the 83rd minute due to medical concerns.
Nottingham Forest ‘message’ to Nigeria confirmed
The Nottingham Post had reported’serious worries’ about the player’s fitness before of the Arsenal game, but it has now been revealed that Nottingham Forest and Nigeria had already agreed to enable the player to return early if AFCON qualification was secured.
The point against Benin did that for Nigeria, thus Aina would have returned to the UK even if he hadn’t been knocked out. Austin Eguavoen, Nigeria’s interim coach, stated: “You know, relationships are important. Prior to our game in Cote d’Ivoire against Benin, I spoke with a Nottingham Forest official, and then I received a message from Nuno, Forest’s manager, asking with us to release Ola Aina because they are facing Arsenal next weekend.
“I replied, okay, we have an agreement; whenever we achieve the results in Côte d’Ivoire, we will continue the connection. We have other players who we believe can play, therefore we want to continue [the] relationship.”
