Nottingham Forest defender Omar Richards has finally played a competitive game following his injury troubles. The 25-year-old is currently on loan with Olympiacos as he bids to prove his fitness.

Richards looked like a pretty useful signing when Forest landed him during the summer of 2022. He cost the club £8.5 million and was expected to challenge Harry Toffolo for a place in the team.

Instead, he’s faced 18 months of agony after picking up two injuries. Shortly after Richards arrived at Forest he fractured his shin and then required a hernia operation.

Richards finally gets back on the pitch

The left-back was back on the grass during pre-season training. Richards headed to Spain with the Forest squad, although Cooper didn’t feel he was fit enough to play in a friendly contest.

Now, after a long 18 months, the player has been back out on the pitch. Over the weekend he played for the Olympiacos B-Team as they defeated Diagoras 1-0.

Richards played for 45 minutes of the contest in a natural left-back role. Now, the challenge for the Forest player will be to play for the senior team and get back to his very best.

Forest will be excited by Richards return

This is great news and it’s a piece of information that will delight the coaching staff at Forest. The player has lots of potential and before moving to Forest, Richards played 17 times for Bayern Munich.

It’s hard to comprehend what Richards has gone through on the injury front. He will be desperate to get back to playing senior football and this is a positive step in the right direction.

It’s not clear at this stage what the future holds for Richards at Forest. Right now he has to focus on staying fit and getting plenty of games under his belt for Olympiacos.