Nottingham Forest boss Oliver Glasner has alleviated fears over the fitness of Chris Wood.
Oliver Glasner has eased fears over Chris Wood's fitness after the Nottingham Forest striker withdrew from the starting line-up to face Udinese on Saturday.
When the line-ups for the first Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup game, against Udinese, were announced, a familiar face was poised to lead the line.
But by kick-off, there was no sign of Wood, and it was confirmed that Dilane Bakwa had taken his place in the starting line-up.
Having missed much of last season with a serious knee injury, there were immediate fears over the New Zealand striker's fitness.
But Glasner has eased fears, insisting that his late withdrawal was just precautionary, after he felt something in his thigh.
The Austrian head coach also revealed that Taiwo Awoniyi, who had been due to take Wood's place, also felt something in his groin - which led to Bakwa's inclusion.
"He felt a little something in his thigh when he had a shot in the warm-up," Glasner revealed to Roundtable, "And then, of course, it was precautionary, we can't take any risks, so Taiwo should then have started, but he also felt something in his groin.
"Maybe it's because of spending a long time sitting on the bus or the plane and in the hotels. "So we didn't want to take any risks with them, but it should be fine."
"Performances will inspire confidence"
Forest went on to lose that game 1-0, courtesy of an Oumar Solet header, and also lost the second game, against Barcelona, 1-0 after a late Raphinha penalty, given after Nikola Milenkovic handled the ball in the box.
Despite finishing last in the cup's league table standings, there were a lot of positives to take from the game, and Glasner was keen to recognise the progress his Forest side have already made after the game.
"Of course, when you lose both games, you are never pleased with the results, but, especially now in pre-season, we have to look at our performances," he said.
"I think we should have won at least one of these games. We created so many chances, especially against Barcelona, and just didn't convert them.
"And at the end it was unlucky, it was a penalty for handball, but the performances in both games will give us a lot of confidence, we are on the right track."
Forest have two more pre-season friendlies to look forward to; both at home, against Bayer Leverkusen and Stade Brestois this coming Wednesday and Sunday, respectively.
