Nuno Espirito reveals how Ola Aina played AFCON 2023 finals for Nigeria injured

Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito has revealed how the Nigerian international played the final fixture of AFCON 2023 for Nigeria with an injury.

Nuno made this shocking revelation in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest fixture in the premier league when asked if Ola Aina would be fit and available for the fixture. ]

Nuno stated that Ola Aina had picked up an injury in the Nigeria vs South Africa semi-final fixture and had played the final of AFCON 2023 against Ivory Coast injured as well.

He stated, “Ola got injured in the semi-final and played the final with an injury, he tried but didn’t really play in the final. Ibrahim, the same, he was struggling since he was there at the AFCON. So the three of them (Ola, Willy, Ibrahim) are not available for this match, which is bad for us. We don’t have a date for their return.”

Many had noticed that Ola Aina had not been in the best of forms in the final match of AFCON 2023, and the revelation made by Nuno Espirito has finally put things into perspective for fans and it also points in the direction of the fact that the Nigerian players had given it their all in the game as well.