Aston Villa will make a late call on the fitness of Ollie Watkins ahead of Saturday’s clash with Nottingham Forest.
The Reds host Unai Emery’s side at the City Ground (5.30pm kick-off) buoyed by their win over Manchester United last weekend. The two sides are separated by goal difference in the Premier League table, with fifth-placed Forest sitting directly above their weekend opponents.
Watkins was replaced by Jhon Duran at half-time of Villa’s 3-2 Champions League victory over RB Leipzig on Tuesday after picking up a "small injury". Emery’s men will train at Bodymoor Heath this afternoon and if Watkins gets through the session, our sister title BirminghamLive report he will then be named in the squad to face the Reds.
“After the training session, we are going to decide how the players are", Emery said when asked about team news. "Yesterday was a recovery session and some players rested. Today we are going to try and train to know how we are after a period of four matches."
Pushed on Watkins' availability, Emery said: "I don’t know. In case he is training and feeling good, then he will be available tomorrow."
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Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo continues to be without long-term absentees Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare. He will also not be able to call upon Villa loanee Alex Moreno as the defender is ineligible to feature against his parent club.
“We are assessing. It is always like that, but no big issues,” Nuno said when asked about team news in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
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