Nottingham Forest coach Nuno Espirito Santo has shown support for Taiwo Awoniyi, despite the striker’s penalty miss in their EFL Cup loss to Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Awoniyi, who joined Forest from Union Berlin two seasons ago, has struggled with fitness issues since his arrival. The 27-year-old striker came to the club with high expectations after his impressive performances in Germany, but injuries have held him back. As a result, English striker Chris Wood has taken over as the first-choice forward at Nottingham Forest.
Awoniyi started on the bench in Forest’s first two Premier League games this season but was given his first start against Newcastle in the EFL Cup. Unfortunately, he could not score during regular time and missed the final penalty in the shootout, which cost Forest the game.
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Despite this, Nuno Espirito Santo was positive about Awoniyi’s performance. He explained that he allowed Awoniyi to play the entire match to help him regain his fitness.
“It was a good performance. In the end, he was clearly lacking some energy, but he worked very hard until the end,” Nuno said. “He had two or three good chances to score. We want to give Taiwo this opportunity to improve his fitness because we know the talent is there.”
Nuno also acknowledged the missed penalty but emphasized the need to support Awoniyi and move on quickly, as the team has another match coming up on Saturday against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
