Chris Wood was pulled from Nottingham Forest's starting line-up against Udinese after feeling something in his thigh during the warm-up, and Oliver Glasner said the change was precautionary. Dilane Bakwa took his place, while Taiwo Awoniyi, who was due to start instead, also felt something in his groin.
The timing mattered because Forest were already deep into pre-season and trying to get through a run of games without losing key players. The concern centred on Wood, who had missed much of last season with a serious knee injury, so any fresh issue around his thigh was always going to draw attention even before a ball was kicked.
Glasner moved quickly to calm that reaction. He said Wood felt a little something when he had a shot in the warm-up, and that the club could not take any risks, especially with Awoniyi also reporting discomfort. The manager added that the problem might simply be linked to long travel and time spent sitting on the bus, plane and in hotels, and that it should be fine.
Forest still went on to lose 1-0 to Udinese in the first Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup game, with Oumar Solet scoring the winner with a header. That came after another 1-0 defeat to Barcelona, where Nikola Milenkovic handled the ball in the box before Raphinha converted a late penalty. Glasner said he was not pleased with the results, but felt Forest should have won at least one of the games because they created so many chances, especially against Barcelona.
The wider picture is that the setback leaves Nottingham Forest with two more pre-season friendlies at home, against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday and Stade Brestois on Sunday. If Wood and Awoniyi are cleared, Forest can still use those games to build rhythm; if not, the forward line already looks lighter than Glasner would want this close to the start of the new campaign.
