By Callum Wright
Nottingham Forest have hosted their first open training session since their return to the Premier League three years ago.
Around 3,700 fans were invited to the City Ground to watch head coach Nuno Espírito Santo and his coaching staff deliver a training session to his side as they prepare for the visit of West Ham United to Nottingham at 3pm on Saturday, November 2.
The session, scheduled during the October school half-term, is part of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ long-term plan to strengthen the club’s relationship with the fans.
Fans packed into the Brian Clough Stand to watch the players train for more than an hour before some of the players, including Callum Hudson-Odoi and club captain Ryan Yates, interacted with them with photos and signing shirts.
Those invited to watch the session were chosen from a ballot of MyForest members, season ticket holders and club partners.
One player notably absent from the training session was vice-captain and fan favourite Morgan Gibbs-White who is still sidelined following an ankle injury picked up while facing Chelsea on October 6.
While some fans questioned the absence of Gibbs-White, many said they were there to see Chris Wood – who scored twice in Forest’s recent 3-1 over Leicester City and went level with Stan Collymore to become the Reds’ second-highest-ever Premier League goal-scorer.
The fans also praised the atmosphere at the City Ground even not during a normal matchday and appreciated being able to see behind the scenes of a training session, with fans able to hear from first-team analysts and the Pitch Performance Team.
One of the players who was present at the training session was on-loan midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who won’t be available for Saturday’s game due to West Ham being his parent club.
Speaking to NottsTV, he said: “It’s always an intense training session to be a part of, it’s one of the reasons why I think we’ve been doing so well this season is the training level and the competition’s been really high, the fans have had a real treat today.”
Adding about his time so far at the club, Ward-Prowse said: “It’s been brilliant. I think joining the club beforehand I felt that family feeling straight away and I think that’s something that’s been similar to the other clubs that I’ve been at.
“I feel like it was a really good fit and it’s a fantastic group of lads to be a part of so I’m working every day and really enjoying it.”
The club welcome West Ham to the City Ground on Saturday in their first of two successive home games before the international break.
They also welcome Newcastle to Nottingham on November 10 – before travelling to title-chasing Arsenal on November 23.
