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Explained: When Tendayi Darikwa could return for Nottingham Forest

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Tendayi Darikwa ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament during a training session for Nottingham Forest in early-August and was initially ruled out for the rest of 2019.

The 27-year-old represented Zimbabwe at the African Cup of Nations this summer and was handed a late holiday after his side were eliminated on June 30. He returned early to prepare for the 2019/20 campaign but suffered a training ground injury which forced Forest to shop for a replacement.

Sabri Lamouchi told Nottinghamshire Live that Darikwa’s recovery time will be six months after undergoing an operation, meaning he’s unlikely to be seen before February. The Reds boss said: “Darikwa is having an operation, so we will be missing him for about six months.”

The right-back will be short of match fitness when he returns to full training too, so Darikwa may have to play for the u23 before getting minutes in the first-team. Lamouchi has Carl Jenkinson, Matty Cash and Jayden Richardson to deputise for the 27-year-old, so Forest can cope without Darikwa.

Since joining Forest from Burnley in July 2017, he’s gone on to make 63 appearances in all competitions, scoring and creating two goals. Darikwa was a regular for most of 2018/19 while Sam Byram was injured and may have been first-choice in 2019/20 but for his injury.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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