Nottingham Forest’s returning Africa Cup of Nations finalists have been ruled out of Saturday’s match against West Ham United.
Ola Aina, Willy Boly, and Ibrahim Sangare will rejoin their Reds teammates today. However, the trio will not be in the running to face the Hammers at the City Ground.
Sangare came off the bench and Boly did not make the squad when Ivory Coast defeated Aina’s Nigeria in the AFCON final on Sunday. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo will have to deal with the varying emotions of the returning players, but he is delighted that he will soon have more choices at his disposal.
“They will not be accessible for this game. They will return to us and rejoin the group, but they will not be available for this game,” Nuno explained.
“I haven’t spoken with them yet. We expect them to arrive today. Ibrahim, Willy, and Serge (Aurier, who has since left the club) were champions, and we have to congratulate them. However, Ola will be disappointed. But he will definitely have another chance in the future.
“It will surely be a lift for us because they (Boly and Sangare) arrive at a good time. And they provide us with possibilities that will strengthen us – the most essential feature is that everyone will be together for the first time.”
Forest will also be without Chris Wood and Gonzalo Montiel this weekend, who are both out with hamstring injuries. The former is anticipated to miss up to two months, but it is unclear how long Montiel will be out.
“He is not going to be available,” Nuno stated of the Argentine. “He is under treatment, so we’ll have to wait and see. I am not sure how long he will be out.
“The squad is essentially the same. We have a number of issues.”
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