Nottingham Forest restore Ola Aina to Europa League squad before decisive fixtures | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest have restored Ola Aina to their Europa League squad, with Oleksandr Zinchenko omitted, ahead of the final league-phase fixtures.

Sean Dyche’s side visit Braga in Portugal on Thursday 22 January, then host Ferencvaros a week later as they chase knockout qualification. According to Nottingham Post, Forest cannot make further changes to their list until after the league phase.

Aina was initially named in September but suffered a hamstring injury soon after and only recently returned. A new UEFA rule for this season allows a temporary injury replacement for an outfield player, so Zinchenko was added in Aina’s absence.

After six games, Forest sit 11th in the Europa League standings. The top eight advance directly to the round of 16, while teams in positions nine to 24 must navigate a play-off.

Aina has started the past two Premier League matches against Aston Villa and West Ham United. Zinchenko started last week’s FA Cup defeat to Wrexham but was taken off at half-time. The Nigeria international has been an important figure for Forest since joining in summer 2023.

Source: Nottingham Post