Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo believes Taiwo Awoniyi’s recent national team setback has highlighted the need for a greater focus on the striker’s fitness and game time at the club.
The Super Eagles forward has yet to score this season and has faced difficulties securing consistent playing time.
Competing with top scorer Chris Wood for a regular spot in the starting lineup has proven challenging, and he made just his second Premier League start of the campaign in last weekend's match against Arsenal.
The Portuguese trainer is confident that with increased minutes on the pitch, Awoniyi will regain his sharpness and confidence, paving the way for a breakthrough performance for the club.
Nuno reflects on Awoniyi's struggles and the focus on building his fitness
Nuno has reflected on Awoniyi's recent struggles and the club’s efforts to support the striker in overcoming them.
In an interview shared by Nottinghamshire Live, the Tricky Trees manager discussed how the forward's fitness, confidence, and game time are crucial to his development.
“It’s his fitness, his confidence and he is looking for his goal,” Nuno said. “Everything changes in the mindset of a striker when you score; suddenly everything comes. We are waiting for this click. We trust him.
“What we have been trying with T is to increase his game time. Unfortunately, if I look back, going into the previous (October) international break, he played and then immediately went with his national team and played five minutes. That was a step back.
“We had him for all of the last international break and he was able to play 60 minutes in a very hard game (against Arsenal). It was a very physical game against tough centre halves, and he did very well.”
The 27-year-old has struggled with injuries since joining the Premier League club from Union Berlin two seasons ago.
In his debut season, Awoniyi scored 10 goals in the league. During the 2023/24 season, he added six goals in 20 appearances, starting 12 matches and averaging only 53 minutes per game.
In the ongoing campaign, the Nigerian forward has made 10 appearances for Forest, starting three, and has averaged 26 minutes per game.
