ANGE POSTECOGLOU’S start to life as Nottingham Forest has got off to a terrible start after the Aussie boss was handed a huge injury blow.
Star full-back Ola Aina has suffered a serious hamstring injury and is facing THREE MONTHS on the sidelines.
PAAnge Postecoglou has been hit with an injury blow in his first week as Nottingham Forest boss[/caption]
AlamyStar full-back Ola Aina has been ruled out for up to three months[/caption]
Aina was forced off with injury during the international break with Nigeria.
The 28-year-old was taken off after just 10 minutes during Nigeria’s World Cup qualifier against South Africa on Tuesday.
According to The Telegraph, scans have now revealed he will be out of action until at least December.
It’s claimed that December is seen as a “best-case scenario” for Aina’s return.
Aina was crucial to Nottingham Forest‘s success last season, starting in all but three of their Premier League games.
While he scored twice and registered one assist as he helped Forest achieve a return to Europe with the joint sixth best defence in the league.
Forest did invest in some reinforcements at left-back during the summer, in the form of Nicolo Savona from Juventus, Oleksandr Zinchenko on loan from Arsenal and Cuiabano from Botafogo.
However, the only one of those three arrivals with prior Premier League experience, Zinchenko, is unavailable to feature this weekend as Forest face his parent club Arsenal.
AlamyOleksandr Zinchenko is unable to face Arsenal this weekend for Forest[/caption]
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The Ukrainian has also been left out of Forest’s Europa League squad that was announced last week.
However, Uefa have this year announced a new rule change to their squad lists which means teams can now replace one player with a “long-term injury” with a temporary outfielder.
It is not yet known what a “long-term injury” will be defined as by the governing body.
Forest have made the decision to remove Aina from their Premier League squad, which was submitted on Thursday.
It’s been claimed that Taiwo Awoniyi will come in as his replacement in the domestic squad.
Postecoglou was announced as the new Forest manager on Tuesday, following the decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo.
He will return to a Prem dugout on Saturday after being sacked by Spurs himself this summer.
A tricky trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal awaits Postecoglou in his first game in charge.
As well as his new injury issues, Postecoglou will have to battle his own poor record against the Gunners.
The 60-year-old gaffer took charge of four games against Arsenal during his time with Tottenham, losing three and managing just one draw.
Ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, Postecoglou said: “My thing I do know is that every Premier League fixture is challenging.
“Against clubs that are challenging for honours or others that are fighting for other things, it’s a great game.
“Mikel [Arteta] has got them off to a good start. I think they’ve strengthened over the summer for sure.
“They’re a stronger team than they were last year so they will be a great challenge for us.”
