Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has confirmed that Nigeria defender Ola Aina has returned to team training as he continues his recovery from a long-term injury.
Aina has been sidelined for several weeks after sustaining the injury, which also ruled him out of Super Eagles’ squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
However, there is growing optimism at the City Ground following the defender’s gradual reintegration into group training sessions.
Providing an update on Aina’s condition, Dyche revealed that the Nigerian international is making steady progress, though he is still some distance away from full match fitness.
“Aina is halfway through his fitness progress. He is training more regularly with the team now, which is good, but it has been a long-term injury, so we have had to be careful with that one,” Dyche said.
“He is still a bit of a way off with his true fitness. He has been out for a long time, and it takes even longer to reach that deep level of fitness, but he is making good progress forward.”
Nottingham Forest’s medical team will continue to monitor Aina closely as he builds up his conditioning, with the club keen to avoid any setbacks before fully reintegrating him into competitive action.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. On the back of domestic engagement since 2008, he began his international career journey at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
