HE’S GOT BOTTLE..

Omobamidele aiming to put his resilience to good use for club and country

IF ONLY you could bottle Andrew Omobamidele’s resilience.

With his 22nd birthday still three months away, the Nottingham Forest and Ireland defender has suffered more than his fair share of set-backs. Since his debut away to Portugal in September 2021, he has endured some pretty nasty injuries.

The worst was a stress fracture in his back, which he suffered just a few months after his introduction in Faro. His Achilles, ankle and groin have also caused him grief.

The set-backs aren’t just confined to treatment table issues. His move back to the Premier League last summer – after his most productive campaign to date – quickly turned sour.

Omobamidele clocked up 35 appearances for Norwich last season and was snapped up by Nottingham Forest for around €13m.

But he didn’t make a single appearance under Steve Cooper and had to wait until a defensive injury crisis in mid-january before his breakthrough.

Omobamidele’s goalscoring debut in a 3-2 FA Cup victory against Blackpool won over new boss Nuno Espirito Santo and he has played nine more times since.

Forest’s points deduction is a fresh set-back, but at least this is one that he shares with the rest of the dressing room.

All in all, it hasn’t been an easy introduction to senior football for the former Leixlip United man. “It was difficult,” he says of the missed opportunities to add to his seven caps to date.

“I felt like it (the back injury) came at not the best time for me, because I felt I was really kicking on, but it happens.

“Around that time, it was my first big injury that kind of set me back so, yeah, it makes you realise a lot of stuff that can happen in football and the way you need to deal with it.

“So you learn a lot about yourself in those times. It was tough but I’m just happy I’m back now and the injuries are behind me.”

Omobamidele played in the 1-1 draw with New Zealand last November, in Stephen Kenny’s final game in charge, but you have to go all the way back to November 2021 for his last competitive appearance, as a late substitute in the 3-0 win away to Luxembourg.

Rather than mope over what might have been, he looks ahead with positivity.

“I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason, and my injuries are part of the game,” says Omobamidele.

“My mentality is more excited to get back in, and hopefully get to a level, and better, than I was at previously. That’s the way I am thinking right now.”

As for his club situation, he acknowledges that it wasn’t an ideal introduction into life at the City Ground.

He added: “Everything I’ve had up until now, I’ve had to graft for it, and I know how that is. I enjoy it to be honest. It was challenging, the first five, six months but I’m happy where I’m at.”

And he is happy to be back in with his Ireland pals, with two tough games coming up against Belgium tomorrow and Switzerland next Tuesday.

“We want to win,” he says. “Regardless of the managerial situation you’re playing for your country so we need to go in with that same mentality.”

Former centre-half O’shea is no stranger to the Irish players, having worked on Kenny’s staff last year.

He’s a good man to have around the place, particularly for defenders such as Omobamidele.

“He’s a legend, so just to have him there, for the likes of me as a centrehalf, I know I can bounce a few things off him.”