Nottingham Forest dealt another injury blow ahead of Premier League season

Nottingham Forest have been dealt another injury blow ahead of the upcoming Premier League season.

Boss Steve Cooper says summer signing Omar Richards faces a spell on the sidelines, having only signed for the Reds little more than a week ago. It comes as midfielder Ryan Yates is absent with a knee problem and striker Sam Surridge is working his way back to fitness after groin surgery at the end of last term - although both are getting closer to a return

Richards has not featured for Forest in any of the friendlies since putting pen to paper on a four-year deal from Bayern Munich earlier this month. But in response to suggestions the left-back has suffered a broken leg, Cooper told the BBC: “He’s not broken his leg.”

The Welshman said: “He has picked up an injury, and we’re still getting to the bottom of it. It’s really unfortunate.

“It’s not going to be a few days, but it’s not going to be months and months and months. It’s something we’re going through and working on.

“When we know conclusive dates, we’ll let you know. But I guess the short-term feeling of it is one of a little bit of disappointment, because we got him here and he was so excited.

“He trained really well, and obviously it’s a bit of a setback. I said to him, ‘nothing changes, in terms of the plan for you, it’s just a little bit delayed’.

The Reds continued their build-up to the new campaign by beating Hertha Berlin 3-1 at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium, in their fourth outing of the summer. They have little more than a fortnight to go before their opening fixture, at Newcastle United on August 6.