Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest stars Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi could force the club into January transfers, Soccernet.ng reports.
Forest started the season with Nuno Espirito Santo as their coach, and the Portuguese was very fond of Ola Aina and Awoniyi, whom he always referred to as ‘T’.
A fall-out with the club owner, Evangelos Marinakis, saw Nuno axed from his role and replaced by Greek manager Ange Postecoglou.
Aina never played under the former Tottenham Hotspur coach before he was fired again after losing six of eight games in charge of the two-time UEFA Champions League winners.
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Forest then hired Sean Dyche to replace Ange Postecoglou, and the ex-Burnley coach has gotten things off to the right start at the City Ground, winning three of his first six games in charge.
His presence on the touchline has also seen Super Eagles star Awoniyi get more game time, but an injury has set back the progress of the former Union Berlin striker.
Aina, Awoniyi’s injuries could force January transfers for Nottingham Forest
Ola Aina suffered a hamstring injury in September during International duty and was required to have surgery. While he’s stepped up his recovery process in getting back on the grass, he has yet to join the full team training.
However, Sean Dyche has clarified it’ll take a while for the former Chelsea defender to get back into action.
“[Ola] Aina isn’t back on the grass and [Dilane] Bakwa is still out,” the former Everton coach said in quotes revealed by Rotowire.
The 54-year-old coach is uncomfortable that he’s yet to have the full squad at his disposal due to the injuries that have plagued the side. As a result, a transfer in January to get him the players he wants might surface.
“January is always an awkward window anyway. There are no guarantees you get the right players who fit and all that in January,” the ex-Watford defender said in quotes revealed by Nottingham Post.
“The way that football is, everyone is open-minded – all clubs. That is certainly the way my staff and I work, and we have already been speaking to the powers-that-be about options with the recruitment side of things.
“It is an ongoing process now – keeping links with players, possibles, probables, availability, contractual situations, all of that. It has become part of the business
“Most clubs, including this one, are constantly keeping an eye out for what-ifs.
“We have been very stretched with injuries, everyone knows that; there comes a point where we can’t keep getting this stretched, and we are going to need everyone to be fit.”
“The hardest bit has been not seeing everyone fit. There hasn’t been a stage where we have seen everyone fit, so that has been tricky.
“We know some of the players in more depth – the likes of Chris Wood – because we have worked with them as players.
“Some of the new players are developing into their roles and developing into the club and the feeling of the club.
“We are trying to get everyone fit and on the grass. When everyone is fit, it looks to me like a pretty strong squad as regards the challenge in front of us.
“However, there are no guarantees because that same strong squad wasn’t doing so great (previously). That is sometimes the fragile nature of football.
“But the way I look at it, I’ve been very pleased with the squad.
“Their mentality, their belief in each other and their belief in what we are trying to achieve has been excellent
“We just want that to continue and hope to get players fit again. And as we get players fit, make sure we are not losing other players.
“It will then look stronger, and that is what we need – that strength in depth to go forward over a challenging next couple of months with lots of games,” Sean Dyche concluded.
Away from Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi, Forest are dealing with injuries from Chris Wood (knee), Douglas Luiz (hamstring), winger Dilane Bakwa (suspected groin), full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin), Angus Gunn (knee) and Aaron Bott (unknown).