After a big gap between Premier League fixtures, Gameweek 34 will draw to a close on Thursday when Nottingham Forest entertain Brentford.
The managers of both clubs faced the media ahead of that fixture: Nuno Espirito Santo on Tuesday, Thomas Frank on Wednesday.
Those two head coaches brought us the latest team news from both camps.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
More of the same from Nuno Espirito Santo, who continues to assess, assess and assess some more.
“There are a lot of players to assess. [The FA Cup semi-final] was a very demanding game, a lot of players finished with cramp. Assessing all of them.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno was pressed on Ola Aina (calf), who has been absent since Gameweek 30, but offered the usual response.
“The same, the same. We still have one more day. Assessing all the players, trying to make the right decisions.
“We have been missing him, especially because of the stability of the back four that we had, the routines. I don’t know how many times we had in a row the same players – that’s crucial, especially in defence. We will assess him and see how fast he can return to the team.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Ola Aina
Neco Williams will be available on Thursday. He, along with Ryan Yates, were absent from the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City but only because of suspension.
BRENTFORD
Igor Thiago (knee) and Aaron Hickey (hamstring) are back in full training for the Bees but won’t be involved on Thursday.
Thomas Frank was hopeful that the two long-term absentees would feature again at some point this season.
“Hickey and Thiago are both training fully with the team now. They have done that for the last couple of trainings. Not ready for Nottingham, but that’s positive.
“Hopefully [they can feature this season]. Fingers crossed for that. When they are training fully with the team, they are definitely close. How close, we will see over the next one to two weeks.” – Thomas Frank
Josh Dasilva (knee) and Fabio Carvalho (shoulder) remain out, while Vitaly Janelt underwent surgery this week to correct a niggling heel issue.
Other than that, though, Frank said “everyone is available from the last game”.
