Nottingham Forest have revealed why Mats Sells, Elliott Anderson, Ola Aina and Omari Hutchinson all missed public training due to fitness concerns. The Forest team held their latest session in front of their supporters at the City Ground, but the key quartet was nowhere to be seen.
Ahead of training, the club’s official statement said: “Mats Sells and Elliott Andersson will be resting after recent international action, while Ola Aina and Omari Hutchinson continue their individual training programs and will not be part of today’s group.”
All four players were in the starting XI that beat Tottenham before the international break and are widely expected to return to action next week. Meanwhile, individual workloads have been carefully managed, with Forest playing four games in just 10 days, starting with the Europa League quarter-final first leg in Porto next Thursday.
This fixture will be three consecutive home matches, with the second leg sandwiched between games against Aston Villa and Burnley. Relegation rivals West Ham United also face a congested fixture list as they prepare for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Leeds United before returning to Premier League duties against Wolves.
Tottenham’s only focus is on next weekend’s trip to Sunderland, with newly appointed manager Roberto De Zerbi taking charge of his first training session on Friday. Several key players have been absent from the training pitch as the team continues to make their comebacks from injury, with Pape Sarr also having problems recently.
However, Matthijs Tell featured for Hotspur Way despite limping and falling against Forest and being removed from France Under-21 squad duty. By all accounts, it was an intense session led by de Zerbi, and the cameras even caught snippets of his instructions, giving us a glimpse of the ideas he was trying to instill.
During Rondo practice, he said: “One-touch or two-touch. With two-touch, you can’t lose the ball. It’s five against two to pass. Have fun, have fun, but you have to move. Have fun with the ball. A lot of teams are playing man-to-man now. You have to pass the ball man-to-man. It’s important, one touch, two touches.”
De Zerbi will be keen to see his methods deliver immediate results despite being on a five-year contract. His opening seven games are likely to define his entire tenure in north London. In addition to trips to Sunderland, former team Spurs de Zerbi, Brighton, Leeds United Wolves, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton.
