Nottingham Forest and Steve Cooper have been given a big, and unexpected, boost ahead of their return to Premier League action next week with summer signing Moussa Niakhate potentially returning from a hamstring injury.
The centre-back picked up the injury in the 1-0 win over West Ham United at the City Ground last month. The injury has seen the 26-year-old sit out the last six Premier League matches, with the prognosis saying that he’d be out for ‘a few months'.
It does, however, seem that the player may have recovered quicker than initially expected. The defender was called up to the Senegal national squad for the current international break and could now potentially make his international debut, having been named on the bench for the international friendly against Bolivia.
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The decision to include him on the bench comes after the player himself ruled out featuring in the game, saying that it ‘isn’t an option’. Niakhate also revealed that he’s been training individually in the run up to the game.
"We’ll see if I play, considering my fitness levels. I’m here, I’m training, individually for now,” he said .
"The game against Bolivia isn’t an option for the time being. We’ll see. The manager will be the one to make a decision, but today we aren’t talking about a game just yet."
Should Niakhate unexpectedly make it onto the pitch in either of the two games Senegal have over the international break, then it would provide a huge boost to Cooper and Forest. It means he could potentially be available to feature in the Premier League clash against Leicester City on Monday, October 3, Forest’s first game after the international break.
Even if he doesn’t make it off the bench in the game against Bolivia, Senegal are back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they take on Iran. That game could give Niakhate more time to prove his fitness as he looks to make his international bow.
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