The 2024/25 campaign has been a tough one for Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
The striker signed for Forest for £18 million from Union Berlin and was the first player the club signed after winning promotion to the Premier League.
Awoniyi scored 11 goals during his maiden campaign in England and last season he managed six despite picking up two pretty serious injuries.
Now, the Nigerian has seen Chris Wood really kick on and that has left him to play second fiddle under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Lewis McGugan thinks that Awoniyi will get a chance to shine at some point this season but right now getting games is proving a struggle.
Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest participates in the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town at the City Ground in Nottin...
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
What Nuno Espirito Santo said about Taiwo Awoniyi
The backup striker watched on from the bench at the weekend as Chris Wood equalled Bryan Roy’s record for Premier League goals for Forest.
Awoniyi is a popular member of the dressing room and ultimately that means that he will be there to support Wood in any way that he can.
The striker did get the chance to start against Arsenal recently but he was forced to feed from scraps and didn’t really have much chance to shine.
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Espirito Santo was asked about Awoniyi after the game against Ipswich and it’s fair to say that he’s not washing his hands of the striker just yet.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “It’s his fitness, his confidence and he is looking for his goal.
“Everything changes in the mindset of a striker when you score; suddenly everything comes.
“We are waiting for this click. We trust him.
“What we have been trying to do with T is to increase his game time. Unfortunately, if I look back, going into the October international break, he played then immediately went with his national team and played five minutes. That was a step back.
“We had him for all of the last international break and he was able to play 60 minutes in a very hard game against Arsenal. It was a physical game and he did very well.
“We will try to keep progressing on that aspect with T because we need all the players. T and Chris at the specific strikers we have.”
Awoniyi needs a goal quickly
It’s hard for Awoniyi right now but he does have the character to bounce back from this current draught that he’s on.
Forest have stuck by Awoniyi and he’s more than proved himself as value for money with the goals that he’s scored to date for the club.
The Reds have a striker bang in form in Wood right now and he’s quite clearly Espirito Santo’s number-one talisman.
Awoniyi didn’t get on the pitch at the weekend but with two games to come in a few days this week, perhaps more minutes will be forthcoming for the backup striker.
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