Nottingham Forest trial new blood test to help prevent player injuries
The 12-week study will monitor players' blood to look for early warning signs of injury and could help footballers extend their careers
Nottingham Forest are exploring whether a new blood-testing technique could help footballers avoid injuries and stay in the game for longer.
The Premier League club has teamed up with Glasgow-based biotechnology company Entourage for a 12-week research project involving its 25-player men's B-Team squad.
Players will provide blood samples twice a week, which will be analysed to monitor thousands of proteins and understand how their bodies react to training, matches, injuries and recovery.
Researchers hope the findings will reveal biological changes that could signal when a player is becoming more vulnerable to non-contact injuries, particularly muscle and hamstring problems.
The results will be compared with existing information about players' training schedules, workloads and medical histories.
Professor Patrick Gunning, chief executive and co-founder of Entourage, said:
“One of the questions we are trying to answer is whether there are signals in the blood that could indicate an increased risk of a non-contact injury.
“That is something we need to investigate through the study.
“If athletes and their clubs can track factors they previously could not see, and use that information to look after themselves, I think we could see a larger proportion continuing to compete professionally well into their 40s.”
The research focuses on proteomics, which involves studying proteins in the body.
Scientists will look at markers linked to inflammation and the immune system, as well as proteins associated with so-called 'zombie cells'. These are cells which have stopped dividing but remain in the body and can contribute to inflammation.
The team will investigate how these biological signals change when players are injured and as they recover.
As well as potentially identifying injury risks, the technology could help clubs understand why different players respond differently to similar training demands.
For example, some footballers may experience higher levels of inflammation after a match than others, meaning they could benefit from a more personalised recovery programme.
The project will also help establish a biological baseline for professional footballers, allowing researchers to identify what is normal for elite athletes and spot significant changes.
Nottingham Forest's head of medical, Dimitrios Kalogiannidis, said:
“We are deeply committed to evidence-led player care.
“We believe in the importance of building a more robust biological profile of each player, so we’re pleased to be taking part in this research study that could benefit Nottingham Forest and the wider game for years to come.”
The technology could eventually have implications beyond injury prevention, with biological data potentially being used alongside traditional performance statistics when clubs assess players.
Entourage believes this could help teams make more informed decisions about recruitment, long-term fitness and a player's potential value.
The company was established as a spin-out from the University of Glasgow and was co-founded by Professor Gunning, Dr Taleb Sedghi and Dr Mark Lindsay.
The study is supported by funding from Scottish Enterprise, with findings due to be presented to Nottingham Forest once the 12-week trial has finished.
Although the research is still in its early stages, developers believe it could mark a significant step towards more personalised medical care in professional sport.