(Credit: Imago)

Ciaran Morrison

Fri 26 September 2025 15:40, UK

Ange Postecoglou is still searching for his first win as Nottingham Forest boss, and he will have to make do without two key players against Sunderland.

Postecoglou will take charge of his first match at the City Ground after four successive away games to begin his tenure.

Nottingham Forest’s 2-2 draw at Real Betis in the Europa League was a positive performance from Postecoglou’s side with Igor Jesus scoring twice.

Sunderland arrive at the City Ground unbeaten in three matches, having only lost away to Burnley in the Premier League so far.

Ange Postecoglou provides injury update on two stars ahead of Sunderland test

Defender Ola Aina is out until December with a hamstring injury, and Postecoglou has been handed two further injury blows.

Luiz was substituted at half-time against Betis, also with a hamstring injury, and Postecoglou confirmed that the midfielder will not feature against Sunderland.

Centre-back Murillo is also still out after missing the past three fixtures due to an injury picked up against Arsenal.

“Murillo is still not where we want him to be. He’s still doing individual training. We were hoping he’d have progressed a bit quicker,” Postecoglou said.

“It was a pretty severe knock on his thigh. From my understanding, the healing process is just slower than we thought. He just needs to feel comfortable so we need to be patient with him.

“He’s out on the grass so now it’s just about incorporating him back into the team.

“Dougie [Douglas Luiz] wasn’t great yesterday so we have sent him for a scan on his hamstring. He won’t be available this weekend.

“We have just got to be really careful. He had a lot of issues last year and he came here late so it’s better to be cautious.

“We will see what the scans say. It’s nothing serious or significant but with the international break round the corner there might be an opportunity for us to really build him up to where we need him to be.”

Luiz is therefore also likely to miss Nottingham Forest‘s home match against Midtjylland and trip to Newcastle before the international break.

Postecoglou has dilemma ahead of Sunderland clash

One positive piece of squad news for Postecoglou right now is the form of striker Jesus, who has netted four goals in his first two starts for the club.

Jesus was superb up-front against Betis, and the 24-year-old will be pushing for a first Premier League start.

Chris Wood was an unused substitute against Betis despite scoring 20 goals for Nottingham Forest last season.

The 33-year-old still got the nod over Jesus at Burnley in the last Premier League fixture, but Wood faces tough competition to keep his place in the team.

Postecoglou preferred to put on Dilane Bakwa against Betis over Wood, suggesting he is slipping down the pecking order at the club.