Head coach Steve Cooper was keen for Moussa Niakhate to travel with his Nottingham Forest teammates to the capital last weekend as a positive boost for the injured defender.
The summer signing has been sidelined since August with a hamstring injury, being forced off in what was only his second appearance for the Reds. He is now back in training although is not yet in contention for matches.
Nevertheless, he was part of the squad which made the journey to West Ham United. Cooper won’t take any risks over rushing Niakhate back into action, but he wants to make sure he is feeling part of the group.
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“It’s a sign that he’s getting closer,” said the Welshman. “He did some work with the medics at West Ham, but I was also conscious that he’s been out of the groove for a long time. He played one-and-a-half games, against Newcastle and West Ham, which seems ages ago, so he’s been out a long time. It’s been a long-term injury.
“It’s not just about, ‘oh, he’s fit now, he’s available’, you have to get back into the routines of travelling to games, staying overnight and being with the guys. He had spent some time away doing his recovery.
“I spoke to Giulian Biancone (who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in November) this week on FaceTime. He’s doing some of his recovery somewhere else, which is really good for him, but in those cases, you become detached from being a footballer and the process.
“Moussa is such a driven lad and so wants to do well. The more little positive things you can give him, the more he grabs hold of them, so that’s what going to West Ham was.
“He’s always early in and he’s never in a rush out, so he’s constantly been spending time with the guys. I’ve just seen him sitting there with (Gustavo) Scarpa looking at something - goodness knows what it was!
“Moussa has shown a brilliant effort to get back. I just hope he can get through the final bit now.”
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