Lewis McGugan predicts what will happen with Taiwo Awoniyi at Nottingham Forest later this season

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Nottingham Forest defeated Leicester City 3-1 last Friday to continue a surprising ascent up the Premier League table.

The Reds won thanks to a couple of goals from Chris Wood and a maiden goal of the season for Ryan Yates.

Forest are now seventh in the Premier League and have two successive home games before the international break.

It’s the form of Wood that has made him the hot topic of conversation on Trentside. He’s now found the net seven times in nine appearances this season and is very much on the crest of a wave.

Alan Shearer hailed Wood after the latest win and right now, he’s one of the in-form strikers in the Premier League.

Forest saw their quest to sign a new striker fall through in the middle with Nuno Espirito Santo advising Evangelos Marinakis to save his money.

The Reds have Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi in reserve and for now, those two players look like they could be enough for Forest to progress.

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Lewis McGugan predicts what will happen with Taiwo Awoniyi this season

Although there have been some successes for Awoniyi at Forest, it’s been tough for him since Espirito Santo came to the club.

The Forest head coach has prioritised Wood as his main striker and that has meant Awoniyi making substitute appearances when fitness has allowed.

However, McGugan believes that Awoniyi will be needed this season despite starting just once during 2024/25 – claiming that Wood is actually helping him at the moment.

He told the Forest Focus podcast: “I think when we look at it, we’re in such a good place with Chris Wood it takes the pressure off of Taiwo Awoniyi. It takes the necessity off of us to potentially rush him back and run the risk of his body breaking down. I think that’s what we’ve had to do in the past and it’s not done him any good and also it’s not done the team any good to rush him back a little bit.

“This with Wood allows him to continually build his body, continually allow him to get back to where he was before the injuries.

“There will come a point where we need him – Chris Wood is doing brilliantly right now – but there will come a point when we need Taiwo and hopefully with his period now when we do need him he will be perfectly ready and he can come good again.”

Awoniyi needs support not criticism from Forest fans

It’s good to hear McGugan come out in defence of the Nigerian star given that he’s endured a bit of a rough time lately.

On Friday, Awoniyi came on the pitch with the score 3-1 to Forest and he clearly benefitted from some game time when the pressure was off.

The striker looked much more confident and he showcased a couple of moments that represented the bulldozing Awoniyi of old.

With the Reds choosing not to sign a striker this summer, he will undoubtedly be needed in the coming months as Forest look to consolidate in the Premier League.

Awoniyi hasn’t become a bad player over night and as a result, as supporters we simply need to get behind him and try to get h im back on the goal trail in the next few weeks.