An interview with Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton was featured on the latest edition of the Nottingham Forest Weekly podcast from BBC Radio Nottingham, during which, the manager discussed the extent of Harry Arter’s injury which kept him out of the Reds’ midweek clash with Luton Town.
Prior to Wednesday’s clash with Luton, Arter had featured in all of Forest’s Championship games since he moved to the City Ground from Bournemouth on 22nd September.
While his Forest career is still in its early days, it appears as though the midfielder has made a positive impression on plenty of Reds fans in his short time at the club, with ‘many supporters’ of the East Midlands club suggesting that the 30-year-old could even captain his new side, and Forest-focused website Nottinghamforest.news recently claiming that his ‘experience’ is ‘likely to be key’ for Hughton’s side this term.
With that in mind, plenty of Forest fans may be glad to hear that Hughton didn’t seem to be overly concerned about the player’s injury during this interview, saying:
“He’s okay, it was literally in training the day before yesterday, just tweaked his ankle. So I certainly don’t think it’s going to be something that will keep him out for a while. We’ll see how he is tomorrow, but certainly, I don’t think it’ll be a long one. He just rolled his ankle and we’ll see if he’s going to be available, of course, for Middlesbrough.”
Is Harry Arter a key player for Forest?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Hughton had to say about Arter…
Considering that the Reds got the 2020/21 season off to a negative start by losing each of their first four league games, during a run of form that left Arter ‘baffled’ and which cost Hughton’s predecessor Sabri Lamouchi his job, it may be fair to say that with the club currently sitting in 20th place in the table, Forest have got some ground to make up if they are to manage a promotion push this term to make amends for last season’s final-day implosion which cost them a play-off place.
So, hopefully for Forest, Hughton is right and Arter’s injury is not a long-term one, as it may give the Reds a boost to have him available again, considering that he has played an important role for Forest since joining the club.