Nottingham Forest have installed two chunky 3D stars outside the Peter Taylor Stand for the players to walk through on arrival, the kind that would be at home on the set of a television gameshow but their season began without a conveyor-belt prize, a family saloon or a trip to the Caribbean. Instead there was lingering frustration at Antoine Semenyo cancelling out Chris Wood’s first-half strike late on and deep disappointment for Danilo, who broke his ankle seven minutes into the new campaign after a seemingly innocuous collision.
Credit must go to the referee, Michael Oliver, who instantly grasped the seriousness of the injury, whistling hurried for medical staff to attend to the Brazilian midfielder. Stewards followed with Forest-branded sheets to provide a wall of privacy around the player. Danilo went to hospital for tests but the Forest head coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, confirmed a lengthy layoff is inevitable. “It is a horrible one for everybody,” he said. “We are going to miss him, not only on the pitch. We know him, always smiling, always joyful. Not only our players [were affected], everybody involved in the stadium. It stays in the head of the players. He is a very important player for us. We wish him all the best.”
