Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche believes Nigerian defender Ola Aina is close to a return to action after being sidelined with injury, SportPremi reports.
The Super Eagles right-back has been sidelined since picking up an injury during a clash against South Africa in a World Cup qualifier in September.
The three-time African champions failed to reach the 2025 FIFA World Cup after losing out on penalty shootout to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the CAF playoff final.
Aina, meanwhile, was included in head coach Eric Chelle’s preliminary squad, but was left out of the final 28-man list to represent Nigeria at the 2025 African Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The 29-year-old has not featured since Dyche’s arrival at the club, but is expected to return to action in the coming matches.
Dyche Provides Injury Updates ahead of Fulham clash
Sean Dyche joined Nottingham Forest in October, succeeding Ange Postecoglou who spent less than 40 days in charge at the club.
The former Everton manager spoke to interviewers ahead of the Tricky Trees clash with Fulham on Monday night and provided the latest injury updates about the squad.
“Ola [Aina] is halfway through his progress in fitness. He is training more regularly with the team now, which is good, but it has been a long-term injury, so we have had to be careful with that one”, Dyche revealed.
“He is still a bit of a way off with his true fitness. He has been out for a long time, and it takes even longer to reach that deep level of fitness, but he is making good progress forward.”
On other members of the squad
“It’s looking better. Woody is still recovering on the grass at the moment. He is not with us yet but is recovering”, the former Burnley manager stated.
“Pretty much everyone else is back on the grass. They still have to get total match fitness. We can only play so many games and B Team games, but they are getting there.
“There is certainly a good training group now and a lot of demand in that training group, which is good.”
When Could Ola Aina return to action?
Nigerian defender Ola Aina has been out of action since September, although he has returned to full training.
The 29-year-old lacked match fitness and was omitted from the Super Eagles team for the 2025 African Cup of Nations.
He is however expected back in action early next year and could return for Nottingham Forest’s clash against West Ham United on the 6th of January, 2026.
