Nottingham Forest release four-player injury statement amid Tottenham relegation battle

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Tottenham's relegation rivals Nottingham Forest were forced to explain why four key players missed open training on Saturday

Nottingham Forest have confirmed why all of Matz Sels, Elliot Anderson, Ola Aina and Omari Hutchinson missed open training amid injury concerns. The Forest squad were holding their latest session at the City Ground in front of supporters, but a key quartet were not in attendance.

Ahead of training, a club statement read: "Matz Sels and Elliot Anderson are resting following their recent international commitments, while Ola Aina and Omari Hutchinson are continuing with individual training programmes and will not be present with the group today."

All four of those players were in the starting XI that beat Tottenham before the international break and will more than likely feature over the coming week.

In the meantime, however, their respective loads are being managed with Forest playing four games in 10 days, starting with a Europa League quarter-final first leg away to Porto next Thursday.

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Three consecutive home games follow that, with the second leg in between fixtures against Aston Villa and Burnley. Relegation rivals West Ham United also have a busier schedule than Tottenham as they prepare for an FA Cup quarter-final against Leeds United on Sunday before returning to Premier League action against Wolves.

Tottenham's only focus is on the trip to Sunderland next weekend, with new head coach Roberto De Zerbi taking his first training session on Friday.

Some key players were not spotted out on the grass as several continue to recover from injury with Pape Sarr the latest to suffer a problem. Mathys Tel was present at Hotspur Way however, despite limping off against Forest with an issue that saw him miss France under-21 duty.

It was a very high-intensity session led by De Zerbi and players went home with rave reviews of the 46-year-old's first day of training, as football.london understands. Snippets of what he was instructing were also picked up by cameras, with it clear the ideas he is trying to implement.

During a rondo, he said: "One or two touch. With two touch it is impossible to lose the ball because we are five to pass against two. Enjoy, enjoy but you have to move. Enjoy with the ball.

"A lot of teams now they come man to man. Man to man you need to pass the ball. It's important, one touch, two touch."

De Zerbi will be hoping his tactics have an immediate impact with his first seven games in charge likely to define his tenure despite signing a five-year contract.

Alongside the trip to Sunderland, the Lilywhites also face Wolves, Aston Villa and Chelsea away from home. They welcome De Zerbi's former club Brighton, Leeds United and Everton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the coming weeks.