Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche has given a positive update on Ola Aina’s recovery, confirming that the defender is steadily working his way back to full fitness after a lengthy injury layoff.
Ola Aina has been sidelined since September after sustaining a hamstring injury while on international duty with Nigeria. The setback ruled the 29-year-old out of the Super Eagles’ plans for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and disrupted his momentum at club level.
As part of a carefully managed return, Aina recently featured for Nottingham Forest’s Under-21 side against Millwall to regain match sharpness. Dyche revealed that the defender has also resumed more regular training sessions with the first team, though caution remains necessary.
“Ola is about halfway through his fitness progress and is training more regularly with the team, which is good. But it’s been a long-term injury, so we have to be careful,” Dyche said.
Barring any setbacks, the former Chelsea defender is expected to be available for Forest early in the new year.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has heaped praise on Christantus Uche following the midfielder’s impressive display in Palace’s 2–2 draw with Finnish side KuPS in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The match, played at Selhurst Park on Thursday night, saw Uche open the scoring inside five minutes with a powerful strike from outside the box, sending the home fans into celebration and showcasing his growing confidence in Europe.
It marked Uche’s second goal of the campaign in the competition and further highlighted his importance to Palace during his loan spell.
Glasner applauded the midfielder’s impact, while admitting his side briefly lost control of the game.
“I was pleased with the performance, especially from the youngsters. It was a fantastic goal from Uche, although we lost a bit of structure for 10 to 15 minutes,” Glasner told TNT Sports.
Uche is currently on loan at Crystal Palace from Spanish club Getafe.
