As the international break slowly comes to an end, managers and supporters will be praying their players return healthy, but that may not be the case for Nottingham Forest after Chris Wood limped off the pitch in the early hours of Monday morning.
How Forest players are getting along on international duty
Given how the season has gone for the Reds so far, it is no surprise to see a lot of their key players away on international duty representing their national teams.
Related
Nottingham Forest and Marinakis may now sign striker target for just £15m
Nuno Espirito Santo is scaling up his Nottingham Forest squad and has a cut-price deal on the agenda.
Forest captain and talisman Morgan Gibbs-White is the only player from the City Ground to be representing England during this break after he was called up to the squad as a replacement for Cole Palmer. Gibbs-White was not named in the 23-man squad for England’s game against Albania on Friday but has been recalled to the squad for their game against Latvia.
Meanwhile, defenders Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic and Ola Aina are away representing Brazil, Serbia and Nigeria respectively. Milenkovic left the Serbian media impressed after his defensive display in a 1-1 draw in Austria, which he followed up with a clean sheet in a 2-0 win in the return leg on Sunday.
“He had his moments of hesitation, especially at the start of the game in the 9th minute when he came forward and left a gap for Strahinja Pavlović, but he did his job very well until the end, showing that he is one of the best stoppers in the Premier League this season for a reason.
“He also tried his head, and it seems that he was very happy when he saw Arnautović as a new task. He successfully stopped him as well as Grilič.”
Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are both representing the Ivory Coast as they play their final game on Monday evening against Gambia – the defender was an unused substitute in their 1-0 win in Burundi while Sangare got some minutes off the bench.
Neco Williams, Anthony Elanga, Matz Sels, Elliot Anderson and Wood are all away representing their respective countries, and while Williams produced a fabulous display in a 3-1 Wales win over Kazakhstan, there is serious concern for Wood, who limped out of New Zealand’s 3-0 win against New Caledonia on Monday.
Darren Bazeley shares update on Chris Wood injury
New Zealand manager Darren Bazeley spoke to the press on Monday and confirmed Wood has picked up an injury but was hesitant to provide too many details. He did, however, state the issue is “not ideal”.
“I’m not sure yet. It was when he had that chance and nearly scored, which is a shame. It’s not ideal losing our captain and our goal scorer.”
New Zealand became the second nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after a 3-0 win over New Caledonia, but theirs and Forest’s talisman had to be replaced 54 minutes into the game with what appeared to be a hip injury.
The 33-year-old, who has 18 goals to his name in the Premier League this season, bagged a hat-trick in New Zealand’s win over Fiji on Friday night, making it back-to-back hat-tricks for his country in the World Cup qualification campaign before blanking against New Caledonia.
Forest and their fans will now be sweating as they await the results of any further tests and scans before they face Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday, with a huge Premier League game against Manchester United then looming on Tuesday.
