Nottingham Forest Coach Hails Taiwo Awoniyi’s Return

The manager of Nottingham Forest, Nuno Espirito Santo is pleased that his Nigerian striker, Taiwo Awoniyi returned from a lengthy injury to score a goal for his team.

Recall that Taiwo Awoniyi was out of football due to a groin injury which he sustained while representing Nigeria in an international friendly in November 2023.

The injury forced him to undergo surgery and also miss the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast in which the Super Eagles have progressed to the quarter-finals in his absence.

In his first Premier League match in 2024, coach Santo decided to bring him on as a halftime substitute for Chris Wood, and netted his team’s sixth goal in 11 Premier League games as Forest lost 2-1 to Arsenal.

The 26-year-old Nigeria international unsettled William Saliba in the penalty box and slid the ball past David Raya in goal to reduce Forest’s deficit in the 89th minute.

This means that Taiwo Awoniyi has scored three goals in his last three Premier League games for Nottingham Forest.

Awoniyi had only two training sessions with the club before the game, but Santo was excited about his comeback and commended him for his influence in the match.

“It is a positive to have him back,” Santo told Nottinghamshire Live.

“It was not our plan to play him for so many minutes because he has just had two sessions with the team. But unfortunately, due to the situation with Chris (Wood), we decided to put him in. It is a positive that he played. He had minutes, he scored, he worked.”