Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo has revealed that Ola Aina played the AFCON 2023 final with injury.
Nuno disclosed this while speaking in his pre-match pressed ahead of this weekend’s game with Aston Villa.
Aina was one of the standout performer for the Super Eagles at the AFCON 2023.
But it was a final to forget for Aina who was not at his best as the Eagles lost 2-1 to hosts Côte d’Ivoire.
The right-back had a torrid time against Simon Adingra, who provided the assist for the winner scored by Sebastien Haller.
Despite his poor performance in the final, Aina was named in the Team of the Tournament alongside William Troost-Ekong and Ademola Lookman.
Aside Aina, Nuno also disclosed that Ivorian AFCON winners Ibrahim Sangare and Wily Boly are down with injury.
“We have some problems,” Nuno was quoted on Nottingham Post.
“The three players who returned are not available. All of them – Ola, Willy and Ibrahim – came with injuries, so they will not be available for this match. We don’t have a date for their return.
“Ola got injured in the semi-final and played the final with an injury, he tried but didn’t really play in the final. Ibrahim the same, he was struggling since he was there at the AFCON. So the three of them are not available, which is bad for us.”
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