Forest team news: Ayari back in full training

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A look ahead to Sunday's Premier League game at the Amex.

2026-02-26T11:55+00:00

Yasin Ayari is in contention for Sunday's game against Nottingham Forest after returning to contact training following a shoulder injury.

Albion will look to back up their win over Brentford last weekend with another victory when they take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday, kick-off 2pm.

Team news

At his pre-match press conference on Thursday Fabian Hurzeler updated on Yasin Ayari, James Milner and Solly March.

"Starting with Yasin Ayari, he is finally rejoining us. He suffered a shoulder dislocation - it was a painful injury, but thankfully nothing overly serious. Yasin is a quick healer. He has been doing non-contact work, but today he gets back into full-contact training with his teammates. If he handles the physical challenges well he will absolutely be an option for the weekend.

"Beyond Yasin, we have a clean bill of health regarding injuries. James Milner came off near the end at Brentford but he has looked incredibly sharp over the last two days on the training pitch.

"I know there has been anticipation regarding Solly March’s return, and with Solly the key word is patience. We cannot force his reintegration. He needs game time to rediscover his highest level, but the timing of his game time is important."

Their last line-up

Full-time. pic.twitter.com/wQ0q5POZfM
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) February 22, 2026

Forest suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in their last Premier League game - and their first under new manager Vitor Pereira.

Match facts

Albion are looking to complete a league double over Nottingham Forest for the fourth time, after 1979-80 (top-flight), 2015-16 (Championship) and 2023-24 (Premier League).

Forest are winless in their last five away league games against Brighton (D2 L3) since a 3-2 Championship victory in February 2015.

Albion ended a six-game winless Premier League run with a 2-0 win over Brentford last time out. The Seagulls last won consecutive games in November, with wins against Brentford and then Nottingham Forest.

Only bottom side Wolves (15) have failed to score in more Premier League games this season than Nottingham Forest (13). Their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in Vitor Pereira’s first league game in charge was the third time this season they failed to score under a new manager in his maiden game – Ange Postecoglou in September at Arsenal (0-3) and Sean Dyche in October at Bournemouth (0-2) the others.

Only Everton (7,320) and Manchester United (7,125) have awarded more minutes in the Premier League this season to outfield players aged 30+ than Brighton (5,760). Their starting XI for the 2-0 win over Brentford had an average age of 28 years and 355 days, their oldest for a game since September 2023 in a 3-1 win against Manchester United (28y 363d).

Since Lorenzo Lucca scored at Elland Road against Leeds, Nottingham Forest have had 56 shots, 71 touches in the opposition box and accumulated an xG of 3.86 and not scored a single Premier League goal.

Nottingham Forest have shipped 19 goals via set pieces in the Premier League this season – only Bournemouth have conceded more (20). At the other end, Forest have scored the joint fewest set piece goals (8, level with Wolves).

Only Danny Welbeck has more goals in all competitions for Brighton this season than Diego Gomez (9), although seven of his goals have come away from home. Gomez averages a goal every 330 minutes at the Amex, compared to one every 185 minutes on the road in 2025-26.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson leads all Premier League players for possession won (232) and duels won (223) this season. He’s the only English player on record since 2007-08 to average both 8+ duels won (8.3) and win possession 8+ times (8.6) per 90 minutes in a campaign (min. 1,000+ minutes).

Danny Welbeck is one goal away from scoring 10 Premier League goals in 2025-26, having netted a career high 10 in 2024-25. Only seven players have scored 10+ goals in consecutive seasons while aged 33 or older, most recently Jamie Vardy in 2020-21 and 2021-22 (15 in each).

Match officials