Nottingham Forest appear to have been handed an injury boost ahead of their Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa. The Reds welcome their Premier League rivals to the City Ground on Thursday night for the first leg of the last-four tie, with an 8pm kick-off. The return fixture will take place at Villa Park a week later, with a place in next month's showpiece in Istanbul up for grabs.
Vitor Pereira's side go into this week's clash on the back of last Friday's 5-0 thumping of Sunderland. The only down side to an otherwise memorable night in the north east was defender Jair Cunha being forced off with an injury. Head coach Pereira admitted after the game to being 'concerned' about the Brazilian. But in a positive sign ahead of the midweek match, Jair joined in training with his teammates this morning (Wednesday).
However, midfielder Ibrahim Sangare and winger Dan Ndoye did not take part in the session. The duo are said to have been doing individual work indoors at the Nigel Doughty Academy. Jair's fellow centre-back Murillo was also not part of the group to be put through their paces. The 23-year-old sustained a suspected hamstring problem during the 4-1 triumph over Burnley and had already all-but been ruled out of Thursday's game.
There was no sign of injured trio winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, full-back Nicolo Savona and goalkeeper John Victor, who have all seen their campaigns come to a premature end. The same applies to Willy Boly, who was recently spotted back on the grass but who was not included in the club's Europa League or Premier League squads for the second half of the season.
An update on the Forest absentees will be provided when Pereira takes part in his pre-match press conference this afternoon.
