Sidelined midfielder Danilo has stepped up his recovery from a broken ankle by joining in training with his Nottingham Forest teammates.
The Brazilian sustained the injury on the opening day of the season when he landed awkwardly after challenging for the ball early on in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth. But in a big boost for the Reds, he is making good progress in his rehabilitation.
Danilo took part as Forest trained on the City Ground pitch today (Thursday) ahead of Saturday’s 3pm clash with Ipswich Town but he remains some way off a return to action. Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo instructed his squad not to touch the 23-year-old and joked he was given so much space he was like Argentina legend Diego Maradona.
“Danilo - we are so happy, because he did all of the training session,” Nuno said. “You cannot believe the joy that this inspired. To see him and the joy of his teammates at having him around, it was lovely to see.
“There is no way that he will be involved this weekend, he is still a long way away. We played a game and I said to the other players ‘nobody can touch Danilo’. So he looked like he was Maradona. Nobody could touch him so he was running through and scoring.
“Just to have him around was so nice. We missed him so much. All these players are so important. But it is so good to have people like him back around; back with the group and playing football. That smile is contagious.”
Fellow Reds midfielder Ibrahim Sangare has also been a long-term absentee for the Reds. The 26-year-old underwent hamstring surgery in September.
“Danilo is closer than Ibrahim, unfortunately for Ibrahim he is going to take a little longer,” Nuno said. His injury is very delicate. Following the surgery he had, we do not want to risk any setback.
“Danilo is still far away from a first team return. We have to be patient.”
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