Rayan Ait-Nouri missed Wolves’ 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Saturday (Reuters)
Gary O’Neil has revealed that Rayan Ait-Nouri missed Wolves’ 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest after failing a late fitness test.
Ait-Nouri was forced off after just 55 minutes in Wolves’ 2-1 defeat to West Ham last Saturday with a calf injury but O’Neil was confident that the Algeria international would be available for his side’s trip to Forest this weekend.
However, the 22-year-old was unable to make the bench as Matheus Cunha scored twice to earn Wolves a point at the City Ground.
Speaking about Ait-Nouri’s injury after Wolves’ draw with Forest, O’Neil said: ‘It was a late call because he was doing well this week and up until yesterday we thought he would be available to start.
‘But then he had a small issue with his fitness test with the medical team, so Doc came in for him, did a good job on that left side, because you know what you’re going to get from Doc, but it is another key player missing.
Matheus Cunha scored twice in Wolves’ 2-2 draw away to Nottingham Forest (PA)
‘Cunha was on limited minutes and I probably pushed him five or six minutes past what he should have been on today, Channy on very limited minutes and Daws is just trying to get through the last two games off the bench for us, but he’ll probably have groin surgery – or some sort of procedure to try and help him – at some point this week as he’s going through some pain at the moment.
‘Nelson [Semedo] was exhausted and both hamstrings tightened up, Pablo [Sarabia] looked tired at the end, so it’s a really patched up group that gave absolutely everything, showed a great mentality, but we can improve on that.
‘But where we are the moment, it’s another point to the tally, away from home, which takes us to 43, which is a good tally.’
The draw has left Wolves 11th in the Premier League and a point behind 10th-placed Brighton.
Wolves will now prepare for their Premier League clash at home to Arsenal next Saturday.
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