Nottingham Forest left-back Omar Richards is making “good progress” in his recovery from a hairline fracture of the leg.
But it will still be after the World Cup break before the summer signing makes his debut for the Reds. And head coach Steve Cooper now finds himself without a number of defenders, following the news Giulian Biancone is expected to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
Centre-back Moussa Niakhate and left-back Harry Toffolo were already ruled out with hamstring problems. Meanwhile, midfielder Jack Colback has recently been struggling with a back issue.
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Richards, who has been sidelined since the summer, started rehabilitation work on the grass during the last international break. He is yet to link up with his teammates in training, but Cooper is hopeful he will be available shortly after the Premier League season resumes in December.
“He is doing well. He is not with the group yet, but he is at the next stage of his recovery,” said the Welshman ahead of Saturday’s clash with Brentford at the City Ground.
“We see him often out on the grass doing some strong rehab work with his boots on. He’s doing running and even a bit of ball striking, so he’s definitely making good progress.
“I don't want to put a time on it - we certainly won't see him this week. But hopefully, at some stage when we return (from the World Cup break), we might be able to see him pretty soon, which would be great.”
Toffolo will also not make a return in Forest’s final three games before the campaign pauses. And a comeback for Niakhate remains some way off, with the former Mainz man using crutches when he went to watch the Reds’ victory over Liverpool last month.
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