31-year-old Nottingham Forest player receives international call-up despite hamstring injury

The 31-year-old has missed the last two games for Steve Cooper’s side after picking up a hamstring injury in training.

However, he seems to have recovered from his injury, following his call-up to represent his nation during the upcoming international break.

Wood has been in good form for the Reds so far this campaign, scoring three times including a well-taken double in the 2-2 draw against Luton Town.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference last week, the Reds’ head coach confirmed that the 31-year-old had suffered a hamstring injury – ruling him out until after the international break.

“Woody has a hamstring injury and I don’t think we’ll see him before the international break.

“That’s for sure, that will give him two weeks to recover, so I think the next time we’ll see him is after the next international break.”

The news of his call-up comes as a surprise after Cooper’s statement, with it seeming as though Wood still isn’t fully fit, potentially making his current injury worse.

With Wood going away with his nation, there is a huge risk that the striker could suffer a reoccurrence of the hamstring problem that ruled him out in the last two Forest games.

Taiwo Awoniyi has returned to action but still isn’t 100% – with the Nigerian also going away on international duty this month.

Divock Origi is the only other centre-forward option but has missed the last month with a hip issue – with no return date set for the Belgian.

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Mighten has been forced to remain patient for a chance at his new club since leaving Forest. This week, however, he’s finally been handed a starting berth for the first time.

Mighten played for 72 minutes as Kortrijk drew 1-1 with RWD Molenbeek in the Jupiler Pro League. Interestingly, he played in a somewhat surprising position.

The talented youngster will have been hoping for more football by now at his loan club. Since leaving Forest, Mighten has played just five times, with four of those coming from the bench.

Mighten had scored three times in as many games for the Forest B-Team, including a brilliant goal against Arsenal. But, there was little chance of making an impact in Steve Cooper’s team hence the need for a loan move.

Earlier this week a start was finally forthcoming for the Forest-owned Mighten. However, he wasn’t on the wing and instead, he lined up in the number 10 position.

Last season was so frustrating for Forest talent Mighten. He came on at Newcastle on the opening day of the campaign at Newcastle but then joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan.

At Hillsborough, things were pretty bleak for the winger. He was asked to play as a right-sided wing-back and that simply didn’t suit his qualities as a player.

Mighten is better utilised on the flanks. He has the pace to burn opposition defenders and he’s much more dangerous in the wide areas of an attacking unit.

It would seem that Kortrijk don’t see him as a winger either though and that might not bode well for Mighten.

In the short term, Forest will simply hope that Mighten can get plenty of minutes out on the pitch. However, there will come a point when they want to see him utilised on the flanks.