Nottingham Forest were beaten for the first time during the 2024/25 campaign on Saturday as Fulham derailed the Reds.
Nuno Espirito Santo rang the changes, going with the four central midfielders from the start – a tactic he deployed to great effect at Liverpool.
On this occasion, it didn’t have the desired impact and ultimately, Forest were beaten for the first time during the season.
One player who did come into the team was Taiwo Awoniyi and he partnered with Chris Wood as Forest went with a two-pronged attack.
It was an experiment that didn’t work – although Dean Ashton did claim that Awoniyi should have been given a penalty in the first half.
Pundits disagree over Nottingham Forest star Taiwo Awoniyi
The 26-year-old signed for Forest shortly after the Reds won promotion to the Premier League for £17.5 million from Union Berlin.
He was inspired during the first season at the City Ground, scoring the goals that ultimately kept Forest in the Premier League.
Last season, he managed six goals but three of those did come in the opening weeks of the season and it once again proved a frustrating one for the Nigerian with injuries.
Now, speaking on Notts TV show Team Talk, Gary Birtles and Charlie McParland have seemingly disagreed on the big talisman.
Birtles said: “He’s not starting in front of Chris Wood and there’s always a few doubts about his injury problems. How fit is he? We don’t really know. Did he get injured again on Saturday? We don’t know. It’s difficult to comprehend what’s going through the manager’s mind at the moment regarding Awoniyi. If both strikers get injured, we’re in trouble. I’d always start with him, I like Chris Wood and what he’s done but Awoniyi, when he’s on his game, is just a handful for defenders, he goes beyond he’s strong, he will hold it up.
McParland disagreed with the hold-up play but does seemingly rate Awoniyi as a player still.
He added: “I do like him, he did okay on Saturday, but I don’t actually think his hold-up play is fantastic, I’ve got to be honest. I really like him, but it’s a hit and a miss at times. I think his hold-up play at times lets him down but he is a handful, he’s a strong boy and when he gets into the box he can score.”
Forest have to keep nudging Awoniyi towards fitness
The biggest winner of Forest failing to sign a striker was definitely Awoniyi and had someone come to the club, it’s hard to see when he would have played.
Awoniyi has had some rough luck with injuries during his time at Forest and he actually went off at half-time on Saturday.
On his day, Awoniyi offers a skill set that not too many strikers boast in the entire Premier League.
He’s hustle and bustle, puts himself about and ultimately Forest fans have seen for themselves that he’s capable of finding the back of the net.
With Chris Wood bang in form though, his opportunities have been few and far between which represents an issue for the striker.
All Forest can do is keep working with Awoniyi and hope that as the season progresses he can keep proving his fitness and add some goals to his game.
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