Super Eagles star suffers fresh injury in Nottingham Forest clash, doubtful for AFCON 2025 qualifiers

Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest defender, Ola Aina, picked up an injury in his side’s 1-1 draw against Bournemouth at the City Ground, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 27-year-old started the game at left-back for the Reds, and had a decent first-half outing as Kiwi Striker, Bobby Wood put Nuno Espirito Santo’s team a goal-up in the 23rd minute.

Ten minutes into the second half, the former Chelsea defender had to be replaced after he appeared to have slipped, which led to a twist in his ankle and was immediately replaced by England left back, Harry Toffolo.

Aina’s injury will be a worry for the staff of the Super Eagles, and a big blow to the Nigerian football fans at large, as they prepare for their AFCON 2025 qualifiers in the first few days of September.

The former Torino man missed Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying games back in June, and with a fresh injury worry, puts the full-back positions of the squad in jeopardy. His absence led to a call-up for Remo Stars wing-back, Ismail Sadiq in June.

The extent of Aina’s injury is currently unknown as there is no official statement from the club, yet, but the situation should be clarified in the coming days.

Another Super Eagles star, Taiwo Awoniyi, came on in the 72nd minute, replacing the goalscorer, but could only muster a shot on target as Forest surrendered their slender one-goal lead to start their season with a point at home.

The former Union Berlin striker struggled with a lot of injuries last term, missing 18 games, and coming off 11 times in his 20 appearances.

He also missed most of Forest’s pre-season games due to family issues, and his fitness is still not a hundred percent, but he thankfully still has three games to catch up to full fitness, and hopefully, be a part of the Super Eagles AFCON qualifiers squad next month.

The Super Eagles are still without an official coach going into the 2025 AFCON qualifiers. They will play against Benin Republic and Rwanda on September 7th and September 10th respectively.