Joao Carvalho was absent from Nottingham Forest’s 0-0 draw with Dundee on Tuesday afternoon due to injury. Paul Taylor of Nottinghamshire Live revealed on Twitter that the 22-year-old is carrying a knock from Forest’s 2-1 win over Alfreton on Saturday. Carvalho isn’t expected to be out of action for long, but he wasn’t risked against Dundee as he’s far from 100%.
The Portuguese u21 international had an uncertain future this summer. He was linked with a move to Olympiacos and was rumoured to be unhappy after struggling for minutes in 2019. Carvalho looks set to stay now, however, and could be a key player next season. The creative midfielder contributed 12 goals in 40 games in 2018/19 and should improve for the upcoming campaign.
He didn’t have the best debut season at Forest but still created 44 chances, made 52 successful dribbles (43%), averaged 30 passes-per-game with 78% accuracy, hit the target with 24% of his 33 shots, whipped in 81 crosses with 19% accuracy and made 33 tackles.
Saturday’s clash with Peterborough United was cancelled, so Forest’s next pre-season friendly will be against Atromitos on July 13. Carvalho should be fit to feature by then.
