For the forthcoming Africa Cup of Nations, seven Nottingham Forest players have received calls up from their respective nations.
January 3 is the cutoff date for the 24 participating countries to announce their final 27-man squads. However, a few nations have already made public the rosters of the athletes they have chosen for the competition.
Senegal, who will be defending their championship, has called up Reds teammates Moussa Niakhate and Cheikhou Kouyate. Willy Boly, Serge Aurier, and Ibrahim Sangare have been selected to represent Ivory Coast as hosts in the interim.
Nigeria’s 40-man provisional roster includes Emmanuel Dennis, who is currently on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir, and Ola Aina. However, because he is still recovering from groin surgery, injured striker Taiwo Awoniyi is not included.
The competition runs from January 13 to February 11 and the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan will host the championship game. The competition was rescheduled from its initial June and July date since it would have coincided with the host country’s rainy season. This was done out of concern for the weather.
While serving their countries, Niakhate, Kouyate, Boly, Aurier, Sangare, and Aina may miss up to four Premier League games. They might miss games against Brentford (January 20), Arsenal (January 30), Bournemouth (February 4) and Newcastle United (February 10) depending on how far their countries advance.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have an FA Cup tie at home to Blackpool on January 7, with their scheduled winter break taking place the following weekend. If they beat the Seasiders, FA Cup fourth round fixtures are scheduled to take place on the weekend of January 27/28.
