Gary O’Neil has updated fans on Rayan Ait-Nouri’s fitness after he was absent from the squad in Nottingham Forest vs Wolves.
Wolves played out an entertaining 2-2 at the City Ground thanks to a Matheus Cunha brace in his return to the lineup.
Unfortunately, despite originally taking the lead, O’Neil’s side could not hold out to get their first victory in five games.
However, there were plenty of positives to take from the match. The most notable was Cunha returning to his best combined with Hwang Hee-Chan making his return to the pitch.
Yet, Wolves were still missing plenty of key first-team players including Ait-Nouri. The Algerian had been on fire for the Molineux side in recent weeks before he was taken off vs West Ham with a knock.
Ait-Nouri was believed to be back in contention for Forest, however, this never came to be.
Now, O’Neil has explained why Ait-Nouri did not make the squad in the East Midlands.
Rayan Ait-Nouri is still feeling some ‘discomfort’
It was another big blow for Wolves when it was clear Ait-Nouri was not fit for the fixture. Matt Doherty was once again deployed in the starting XI but did not cover his appearance in glory.
After the match, O’Neil confirmed that Ait-Nouri was feeling some ‘discomfort’ after his fitness test yesterday resulting in his exclusion.
The manager told Wolves: “It was a late call because he was doing well this week and up until yesterday we thought he would be available to start, but then he had a small issue with his fitness test with the medical team, so Doc came in for him, did a good job on that left side, because you know what you’re going to get from Doc, but it is another key player missing.
“Cunha was on limited minutes and I probably pushed him five or six minutes past what he should have been on today, Channy on very limited minutes and Daws is just trying to get through the last two games off the bench for us, but he’ll probably have groin surgery – or some sort of procedure to try and help him – at some point this week as he’s going through some pain at the moment.
“Nelson [Semedo] was exhausted and both hamstrings tightened up, Pablo [Sarabia] looked tired at the end, so it’s a really patched up group that gave absolutely everything, showed a great mentality, but we can improve on that. But where we are the moment, it’s another point to the tally, away from home, which takes us to 43, which is a good tally.”
More first-teamers hopefully return from the sidelines for Arsenal
Cunha’s return against Forest showed how much injuries were affecting the side in recent weeks.
With a focal head up top, the visitors looked threatening in attack and finally gave fans something to shout about.
This was just with Cunha’s return to the starting XI. With the additions of Hwang, Craig Dawson and Ait-Nouri still to come, Wolves’ winless run is surely set to end sooner rather than later.
The club faces a tough test against Arsenal at Molineux next week. However, if a couple of their absentees can make it back for the Gunners, Wolves may be able to pull off another incredible upset once more.