Nottinghamshire

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Notts County have terminated the contract of forward Mai Traore by mutual consent.

The 26-year-old Guinean, who had recently been on loan with League of Ireland Premier Division side Sligo Rovers, failed to score in 13 league appearances for the Magpies after joining from Norwegian side Fredrikstad in February 2025.

Meanwhile, the League One side have said summer signing Max Sanders will miss the first three months of the season with a calf injury.

The 27-year-old midfielder joined on a two-year deal in June after rejecting a new contract with Crewe Alexandra.

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Nottingham Forest wrapped up their 12-day training camp in Portugal with their first defeat of pre-season against Primeira Liga side Sporting.

The Reds fell to a 4-1 loss in their second pre-season fixture of the day, having claimed a 2-1 victory over Portimonense, as they got more minutes in the tank ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Oliver Glasner's side, who were looking to go five games unbeaten in pre-season, took the lead just two minutes in through in-form Igor Jesus, who has now scored in four consecutive appearances.

However, Goncalo Inacio quickly levelled things up with a pinpoint header before Issa Doumbia's 61st-minute strike doubled Sporting's lead.

Then centre-forward Rafael Nel sealed victory for Sporting with a second half brace, firstly looping a header beyond Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels and then grabbing another goal six minutes before full-time.

Nottingham Forest will now return to Nigel Doughty Academy before heading to northern Italy next weekend to take on Udinese and Barcelona.

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"I'm hungrier than ever to get us back into Europe," says Nottingham Forest left-back Neco Williams, who played a pivotal role in the Reds' journey to the Europa League semi-finals last season.

The 25-year-old featured 15 times on the European stage, only being left on the bench for the club's group-stage fixture against Utrecht.

"I'm at a stage in my career now where I want to play in the biggest games," Williams told BBC East Midlands' Charlie Slater. "I want to be playing in Europe and winning stuff. I have to use that as motivation to go and do it.

"Having the taste of them European games with this club makes me hungrier than ever to do it again and get us back into Europe."

On the pre-season training camp in Portugal, Williams added: "This is what pre-season is all about. It is about getting fit and taking away as many new ideas as possible and trying them in training.

"He [Oliver Glasner] has been working us very hard, there has been a lot of running. It has been tough but enjoyable, that's all you can ask for in pre-season. Each day is a new learning day.

"The mentality is around not moaning and just getting on with it. For example; if someone loses the ball or the pitch is too dry, there should be no moaning. That's exactly what we have been doing.

"It has been a bit of a different pre-season for us because we are used to doing double sessions, but he [Glasner] likes to do all his work in the morning.

"So we have been doing a really big and tough session in the morning, with all our gym work that needs to be done, that way it is all boxed off early because he is really big on recovery."

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Nottingham Forest's Ola Aina says he has "dusted off the cobwebs" for wing-back favouring head coach Oliver Glasner and believes that the club can "dream big" again this season.

The 29-year-old right-back is looking forward to "cracking on" with the season after a hamstring tear, sustained in September 2025, hampered his playing time in 2025-26.

"It has been hard work but it has been good," Aina told BBC East Midlands' Charlie Slater when asked about life under Glasner. "Everyone is buying into his ideas and his philosophy. It is really exciting for all of us boys.

"He is a winner. He has shown what he can do over the past few seasons with Crystal Palace, with the right backing and with time, so hopefully he can do that here as well.

"We have to dream big - why can't we? We have everything that a team needs to be successful, so it is down to us to hit the ground running, put the hard work in, stay together and be locked in.

"Why not push for a Champions League finish? It is good to dream."

On Glasner's playing style heavily relying on wing-backs, the full-back replied: "I used to play as a wing-back in Italy, so it has been a few years!

"I told him to give me a few weeks to just dust off the cobwebs and get the engines going again.

"As a full-back, you can pick and choose the right times to go. As a wing-back, you have to go every time because you need to be that support in attack but also get back to help your centre-backs at times. It is a balance.

"I'm wishing for more goals in my game. I hope I get some little tap-ins here and there this season. I don't mind how many - a goal is a goal. I haven't got a celebration picked out just yet, but I'm sure I can think of one."

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Nottingham Forest came out 2-1 winners against Portimonense SAD in Portugal during a behind-closed-doors friendly as their promising start to pre-season continued.

Just before half-time, Taiwo Awoniyi, who was wearing the captain's armband, gave the Reds the lead from the penalty spot.

Joao Reis levelled early in the second half for the second division Portuguese side.

New signing Xaver Schlager restored Forest's advantage with a superb strike from outside the area as Oliver Glasner's team emerged victorious.

Forest will play another match later on Friday (19:00 BST) when they face Sporting CP at Estadio Algarve.