Ola Aina set for Premier League comeback tomorrow when Forest take on Aston Villa

SUPER Eagles fullback Ola Aina is due to make his long-awaited return to the English Premier League tomorrow when travels with his club Nottingham Forest to Birmingham for an away match against Aston Villa.

On Tuesday September 16, Aina underwent surgery on his hamstring after he sustained an injury while on international duty with Nigeria on September 9. He picked up the injury during a World Cup qualifier against South Africa and was forced to limp off the pitch after just 10 minutes and immediately after the match, he returned to Nottingham where his club ordered surgery.

Due to the injury, Aina missed the last quarter of the 2025 league session and could not feature for Nigeria at the ongoing African Cup of Nations currently taking place in Morocco. However, Forest have placed him on a steady rehabilitation plan, which includes physiotherapy and he is now ready to return to action tomorrow.

Aina was unregistered from Forest's Premier League and Europa League squads in September after suffering the hamstring injury, meaning that, despite returning to training a few weeks ago, he has remained out of contention. In recent weeks, however, Aina has featured twice for the club's B team, playing a combined 153 minutes against Wolves U21s and Millwall U21s as he prepares for a first-team return.

With the January registration window now open, Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has confirmed that Aina is in contention for tomorrow's trip to Villa Park. It is not yet clear if he will start, however, or if he will be introduced later on in the game.

Mr Dyche said: "Ola comes back into the group now, which is good. He's in contention, he's back in the group. He's got a lot of miles on the clock.  His injury is fine, he feels fine, so certainly he's back into the group, anyway."