Is Nottingham Forest’s injury situation worse than any other club? At times it feels like it. For Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Anfield there were no fully fit strikers, with Taiwo Awoniyi a surprise addition on the bench — his first time in the squad since 1 October.
Chris Wood, having scored twice against Luton Town and looking like he was finally finding his place, was out with a hamstring injury. And Divock Origi, sidelined with a hip injury, made the last of his four appearances off the bench on 7 October against Crystal Palace.
At the back, Murillo has really only progressed to the first team due to injuries; Felipe hasn’t appeared all season due to a knee problem, while Moussa Niakhate has only started three league games. Although, despite one ill-fated foray forwards, you can’t hold one player responsible for Sunday’s performance — the Brazilian has more than deserved his place in the side.
And while the club has made a number of backroom appointments, presumably to remedy the situation the Reds found themselves in last season — when injuries nearly capsized the relegation battle — maybe it’s too early for their impact to be felt.
However, a quick glance at one of the many websites detailing Premier League injuries suggests that Forest currently have six out — seemingly an average number. And while those six aren’t automatically first-choice players, Sunday saw a real dearth of attacking options with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Danilo also unfit to play.
Having had one of the worst injury records in the Premier League last season, Steve Cooper’s side can only hope that most of the players out at the moment are back within weeks as expected.
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