Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed that Danilo will be on the bench against Luton Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Brazilian midfielder suffered a broken leg on the opening day of the campaign against Bournemouth, but has been back in training for several weeks and Nuno hopes to give him some minutes off the bench in the third-round clash at the City Ground.
“We all wish to see Danilo back on the pitch. He is going to be involved in the squad, he is not going to start, hopefully all of us will get to see him. But we are delighted to have him back,” said Nuno in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“You can already feel that,” added Nuno, when asked if Danilo’s return has given a boost to the rest of the dressing room. “Danilo has a smile that is contagious. It has been really good to have him back.”
Nuno had hoped to utilise Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare as his first choice midfield duo this season, but also saw Sangare succumb to a serious hamstring problem before the end of August.
The impressive form of players like Elliot Anderson, the summer signing from Newcastle, has more than filled the void left by the duo’s absence. But Danilo’s return is still more than welcome. Sangare is also back in training, but is still working individually.
“It is good to see Ibrahim working on the grass as well, even if he is still working on his own,” said Nuno. “It will be a big boost for us to have him back as well. But it will take a while. We need to integrate him back into the group, we need to get him ready.”
Sangare is still several weeks away from pushing for his own first team return. But otherwise Nuno will have a full squad of players to select from when the Championship side visit.
Nuno confirmed that there will be changes to his side, with a huge Premier League clash against leaders Liverpool approaching on Tuesday.
“It’s a reward, if I make myself clear, because the players are working very well,” said Nuno. “If we could, we would play them every game. There’s a lot of players in our squad who don’t have enough minutes. They deserve so much.”
(Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
