Nuno Espirito Santo confident Taiwo Awoniyi will regain top form

By Monsurah Olatunji

Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has expressed his unwavering support for Taiwo Awoniyi, urging the struggling Nigerian forward to rediscover his best form after a challenging start to the season.

The 27-year-old, who impressed during the previous campaign, has found himself limited in playing time this term.

Despite his promising performances last season, Awoniyi has struggled to find the back of the net so far this season, with his place in the starting lineup taken by Chris Wood, who has netted eight goals to date. Awoniyi has made just two Premier League starts this season.

However, Nuno remains optimistic, believing that it only takes one goal for a striker of Awoniyi’s quality to get back on track.

“It’s about his fitness, his confidence, and he is looking for that goal,” Nuno said, as reported by Nottingham Live.

“Once a striker scores, everything changes. The mindset shifts completely, and the goals start to flow. We’re waiting for that moment, and we trust him to get there.”

Nuno reiterated the importance of increased game time for the Nigerian international, noting that Awoniyi’s development has been hindered by interruptions to his playing schedule, particularly after the October international break when he played just five minutes for Nigeria.

“We’ve been working with him to get more minutes on the pitch. Unfortunately, right before the last international break, he played and then went straight to his national team, where he only featured for five minutes. That was a setback,” Nuno explained.

“However, during the last international break, he had the chance to play 60 minutes in a very challenging game against Arsenal. It was a physical contest against strong center-backs, and I thought he did very well.”

With his manager’s continued belief and the opportunity for more minutes, Awoniyi will be hoping to break his goal drought and return to the form that earned him a prominent role at Forest.

Samuel Ahmadu

Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.

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