Lewis Grabban is “back in training” and says he’s “trying to get a bit of sharpness” ahead of Nottingham Forest’s meeting with Swansea City on March 30. The 31-year-old has been sidelined with an achilles injury since mid-February which caused him to miss five league games. Forest haven’t been in the best form of late, dropping points in five of their last seven outings, so Grabban’s return couldn’t come at a better time.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “I am back in training and have been for the last few days. I am back with the lads and just trying to get a bit of sharpness back. I am pain free now, which is good. It has been a frustrating period for me, even when I was involved it was frustrating, when I was playing with a niggle. It was just getting more painful and more sore.
“With recent results, it only got more frustrating. Hopefully now, after this recent break, I can stay on the pitch until the end of the season and do well again. You always want to play and, when you are injured, that obviously gets taken away from you. You have no choice but to work to get better as soon as possible, so you try to focus on that.”
Grabban has scored 15 times in 31 Championship games this season since joining from Bournemouth last summer, contributing 35% of Forest’s goals. He was in sensational form during the first-half of the campaign, but the goals dried up after the turn of the year. The centre-forward has scored only once in 2019 but will hope to find his feet again now he’s back to fitness.
He’s had an achilles problem all season that he’s yet to overcome permanently, but Grabban believes the summer break will provide himself with an opportunity to fully recover. The Forest striker added: “It is hopefully something we can sort in the summer. It is just the break you need. During the season there are a lot of games and you do not get the time you need to rest and strengthen it.
“I will be looking to do that this summer. Hopefully next season it will not be a problem for me. I won’t need surgery; there won’t be surgery. It will just be a case of rest.”
Forest are currently 11th in the Championship with 54 points from 38 games, coming off the back of only one win in their last four outings. Despite the poor form, the Midlands outfit are only three points adrift of the playoffs with eight matches remaining and can’t be ruled out of the top-six race.
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