Pictured: Nottingham Forest man returns to training ahead of Swansea clash, boost for O’Neill

Martin O’Neill has been dealt a boost ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Swansea City, with Tobias Figueiredo returning to training for Nottingham Forest.

The 25-year-old has been sidelined since December with a mysterious leg injury, causing him to miss 15 league games in the last three months, but he gave a positive injury update on Twitter that announced his comeback.

Figueiredo has made 14 appearances in all competitions this season and has been on the losing team only once. He formed a formidable partnership at the heart of the defence with Michael Dawson earlier in the campaign before his lengthy injury forced O’Neill to shop for a replacement.

Forest brought in Yohan Benalouane, Molla Wague and Alexander Milosevic in January which may limit Figueiredo’s chances of playing time upon his return. The central defender will now have to build up his fitness, but he could feature before the season comes to a close.

The Reds are struggling of late. O’Neill’s men are currently sitting 11^th in the Championship with 54 points from 38 games, coming off the back of only one win in four. Forest are three points adrift of the top-six and could get their promotion bid back on track with a win on Saturday.

Crippy Cooke’s previous article