Here’s why McCormack can’t play for Forest
ROSS McCORMACK has written off his troubled season following an achilles injury and surgery to remove five cysts from his jaw.
The Aston Villa striker is on loan at Nottingham Forest, though he has not been at training for three weeks.
The 30-year-old, a £12.5million signing for Villa from Fulham last summer, needs an injection in his injured achilles and endured a three-hour operation in Glasgow a fortnight ago to remove the cysts which were caused by an infection in his mouth.
As Sportsmail’s exclusive pictures show, McCormack has significant facial swelling and doctors have advised him not to train for 10 to 14 days. Forest have been supportive of the Scotland player but, with his achilles also needing rest, McCormack believes he has played his last game of the campaign.
‘It’s been a freakish couple of weeks in what has been an abnormal season for me,’ McCormack told Sportsmail. ‘Forest have been good with me. I wanted to help them but the doctors have advised that I avoid contact in training and rest up.
‘I’m not used to seasons where I don’t play a lot of games and don’t get my goals. I desperately want to get back to that. The move to Villa did not start as planned but hopefully I can get myself sorted and come back in the summer nice and fresh.’
McCormack had scored only three goals for Villa, after hitting 23 for Fulham last season, before a fallout with manager Steve Bruce.
He failed to report for training after insisting the electric gates at his home were stuck, prompting Bruce to exile him from the squad. Villa will look to sell McCormack in the summer after he was loaned to Forest in January.
He scored on his Forest debut against Norwich, but will now sit out crucial games against Reading, QPR and Ipswich as his club fight relegation.
Forest failed to respond to a request for comment last night.