Report: £9.3m Nottingham Forest star could now miss the Brighton FA Cup clash as well as Chris Wood

03/28/2025 02:30 PM

Nottingham Forest return from the international break with an FA Cup quarter-final clash against Brighton, but the time away has left some of the squad with injury problems.

The biggest concern for Nuno Espirito Santo will be that of Chris Wood’s fitness after his star striker hobbled off with an injury on New Zealand duty.

Wood’s injury was not thought to be a concern when initial updates started flooding in from across the world, but it was eventually discovered that Wood would miss the Brighton clash, albeit thankfully this could be the only game he misses.

In response to the news, Forest fans are desperate to see Taiwo Awoniyi take his chance as the natural replacement up front, which has been made even more likely given another issue that has arisen due to the international break.

Ramon Sosa set to miss Brighton clash after Paraguay experience

Nothing seems to be going the way of Ramon Sosa at the moment, with his continuous absence from the Forest squad now compounded by a less-than-successful time with his national team.

The Paraguayan media were unimpressed with Sosa against Chile, seeing him demoted to a 17-minute cameo in the following game against Colombia on Wednesday.

Because of this, it looks as if Sosa will miss his chance at rare minutes in the FA Cup as Paul Taylor of The Athletic has confirmed his likely absence.

Taylor said: “Sosa is not set to return to Forest from international duty until tomorrow [Friday]. So it feels unlikely that he will get a chance in the FA Cup this weekend, when it comes to a starting place at least.

“It is hard to picture him getting dropped straight into the team on the back of one training session and very little rest.”

Sosa seemed to suggest that Paraguay was his only priority in a bizarre social media post before the international break as his Forest career continues to stall, something that Taylor attempted to explain.

Nottingham Forest expert explains Ramon Sosa’s stuttering City Ground career

When Forest paid £9.3m for Sosa in the summer, there was equal amounts of intrigue and anticipation about how he would fair at the City Ground, but his singular Premier League start surely answers this intrigue.

Attempting to explain why it has gone so wrong, Taylor continued: “To be fair, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga have been excellent this season. They are easily the first choice options, by some distance. Then Jota is clearly next in line, in the eyes of Nuno at least.

“It is admittedly interesting that Sosa has not made the squad at all in recent times, given that he has had bright moments in some games – particularly in the FA Cup. But this is one of the side effects of having an almost entirely fully fit squad. Somebody has to miss out.

“[…] Forest always felt that Jota and Sosa would take time to settle here, at a new club, in a new country etc. They were prepared for the prospect of that being a full season.”

His Forest career isn’t necessarily over, as Sosa rejected a move away from Forest in January, but it seems as if it would take a lot for the Paraguayan to move up the pecking order, should he possess the patience to try.