Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper has confirmed that Gonzalo Montiel and Serge Aurier are both injured. In the case of Montiel, he was injured during a 2-0 win for Argentina against Peru on Tuesday night.
Aurier was always a concern for the Reds. He’s not really looked particularly fit all season and against Crystal Palace, he was withdrawn at half-time of the contest.
Cooper has already stated that Forest’s match against Luton this Saturday will feature without both right backs. Cooper will now need to fill the vacuum left by it and rearrange his pack.
Cooper verifies the horrendous Montiel blow
The news isn’t all that good. Neco Williams, who has barely featured this season, is expected to start on Saturday for the Reds given they only have one available right-back. Williams has two strong performances for Wales under his belt.
Montiel was also only beginning to settle in. He went close to scoring against Palace in the second half, and as a result, he will now be sidelined for a while.
Cooper was questioned about the recent injuries that have been sustained by his team, and this one is unquestionably a setback.
To Football Daily, he said, “That is true.” We’ll evaluate it for ourselves. Considering the preliminary scans and everything, it appears to be a calf injury. Serge obviously had an injury because he left Crystal Palace. Although you want everyone to fit, this isn’t always the case.
Both of them have respectable gaming backgrounds and are excellent players. Their combined expertise from playing in the Champions League and on an international level will be much missed.
It was always possible Aurier wouldn’t be ready for this weekend. It’s quite amazing that Montiel has now also left, and this is a similar pattern to what happened last season.
Forest had numerous injury issues in 2022–2023 and will be eager to stop collecting before some of their present fitness concerns return.
Despite these two injuries, Cooper doesn’t seem to be phased. He believes that it will come down to who gets up next, and whomever wins will have a significant chance on Saturday.
