Wood, Zinchenko & Douglas Luiz: Latest Nottingham Forest injury news and expected return datesplaceholder image
Wood, Zinchenko & Douglas Luiz: Latest Nottingham Forest injury news and expected return dates | Getty Images
The latest Nottingham Forest injury news ahead of their games against Malmö and Brighton.
Nottingham Forest will hope to build upon their impressive 3-0 win at Anfield when they take on both Malmö and Brighton & Hove Albion over the course of the coming days – but Sean Dyche has several injury headaches to contend with ahead of both matches.
Striker Chris Wood is inching towards a return from a knee injury, while Oleksandr Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz and Dilane Bakwa are among the other players pushing to come back from injuries over the course of the coming weeks.
We’ve brought together all of the latest Nottingham Forest injury news below ahead of their forthcoming Europa League and Premier League games, along with the missing players’ expected return dates when available.
Will Chris Wood be fit to face Malmö or Brighton?
Striker Chris Wood has been absent since the October international break with a knee issue but is believed to be close to a return – and some reports had suggested that he would be involved against Liverpool at the weekend, although in the end the New Zealander fell short of making the matchday squad.
A late scan suggested that the injury had not fully healed, but Dyche had told the media beforehand that he had only received “good news so far” about Wood’s progress, and there is a high chance that he returns to the team in some capacity over the course of the coming days.
There was also good news about the health of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who came on as a late substitute at Anfield after missing three weeks with a hamstring issue. The winger could be in line to start against Brighton this weekend but is more likely to be on the bench when Forest welcome Malmö to the City Ground on Thursday.
Forest won’t be able to field a full-strength attack just yet, however, as summer signing Dilane Bakwa is still sidelined with an undisclosed issue. Dyche did confirm that the Frenchman was back in light training and making “good progress,” but he is not expected to play again until early December.
How close are Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko to returning for Nottingham Forest?
Forest will also expected to be without the services of summer signings Douglas Luiz (hamstring) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin), with Zinchenko believed to be the closer of the two to making a comeback.
The former Arsenal utility man is still not back in training, as Dyche confirmed on Friday, but is pegged for an early December return. Douglas Luiz, meanwhile, is said to be “making progress” but isn’t likely to return until later next month, with the 14 December match against Tottenham Hotspur a likely target date.
Elsewhere, full-back Ola Aina (hamstring) is expected to return to training towards the end of next month ahead of a probable early January return while reserve goalkeeper Angus Gunn (knee) is out for an unspecified length of time, with Dyche saying that his most recent injury was “straightforward but [is] going to take a bit of time.” Another back-up goalkeeper, 21-year-old Aaron Bott, is also out with an undisclosed injury with no return date set.
Continue Reading