Nottingham Forest star Taiwo Awoniyi was put in an induced coma after emergency surgery for an injury he sustained against Leicester and Ola Aina has now opened up on the mood in the dressing room
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Sport
06:50, 15 May 2025
Taiwo Awoniyi
Taiwo Awoniyi sustained his horror injury by colliding with the post vs Leicester
(Image: Getty Images)
Nottingham Forest star Ola Aina claims every single person at the City Ground has been affected by Taiwo Awoniyi’s trauma - and has urged for a change in rules to avoid it happening again. The Nigerian striker sustained a horror injury as he collided with a post during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Leicester.
He received lengthy treatment from Forest medical staff before eventually attempting to play on. Awoniyi was then eventually taken off - which allegedly triggered the furious on-pitch reaction from owner Evangelos Marinakis.
It was then revealed that Awoniyi had been rushed to hospital after rupturing his intestine, with emergency surgery and an induced coma required to fix the issue - albeit that coma has now been lifted. And Aina has now spoken out on how the Forest players have felt seeing their teammate go through such an ordeal.
Speaking to Mail Online, the defender said: “T is a very chilled guy. He doesn’t like to get in the way. He goes about his own business but he can have fun as well.
“He has been in a couple of my [YouTube] videos but I know he doesn’t like the cameras too much so I try not to put them in his face. I respect that about him. I have sent him a message of course. The whole team has.
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“I have heard he is recovering well so hopefully we will hear from him soon. I knew he had hurt himself at the time but just didn’t realise it was to that extent. I only really heard when everyone was sending messages on our players group chat.
“We have a lot of things in common, me and Taiwo. Like our faith. But this is our team-mate and brother and someone we spend most of the year with day in day out. It affects everybody in some sort of way. All we can do is show our support and hopefully everything goes well for him now.”
Awoniyi might never have sustained his injury had the move he was part of come to an end earlier. Anthony Elanga was clearly offside, with his teammate stretching for the winger’s cross before colliding with the upright but the flag stayed down.
Ola Aina
Ola Aina has sent his best wishes to Taiwo Awoniyi(Image: Getty Images)
Should the rules be changed to avoid injuries like Awoniyi's? Share your thoughts in the comments below
And Aina has claimed that a tweak to the IFAB initiative to keep flags down for VAR interventions could avoid similar situations. He added: “Anthony was miles offside. The whole world could see and so could I from where I was.
“You think ‘offside’ straight away. Surely you could just lift the flag up? Personally I liked how it was back in the day when for offside they just put it up straight away.
“A simple decision and get on with the game. Having to see it out and then just see this happen….well none of this would have happened to ‘T’ if the flag had just gone up would it? I mean…”
Aina also gave his verdict on Marinakis’ on-pitch confrontation with boss Nuno Espirito Santo, claiming he understood why he was so passionate. He said: “The owner just wants us to do well.
“He set up the club and the team for success and, like everyone is, he is fully invested in how well we do and how big the club grows. I have nothing but praise for him. I am so grateful to him and what he does for the club.”
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