'He did very well' - Nottingham Forest boss backs Awoniyi to get back to his best after display at Arsenal

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo has expressed confidence in Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi getting back to his best for Nottingham Forest, as he has been having a tough time lately. 

This season, Awoniyi has seen limited playing opportunities and remains without a goal.

The 27-year-old has only started three games out of the ten he has played this season. 

He has also been struggling to get ahead of Chris Wood, the team's top scorer, in the lineup. 

The Nigerian international's lack of playing time has made it hard for him to get back to his best after missing part of the pre-season.

The Liverpool alum's situation has not been helped by the fact that he did not get to play much for Nigeria during the international break. 

Nuno ensured that Awoniyi made good use of his time away from the Nigerian team, with the striker playing over an hour in Nottingham Forest's 3-0 loss to Arsenal.

Nuno believes that Awoniyi just needs one goal to get his confidence back. "It's his fitness, his confidence and he is looking for his goal," the 50-year-old said in quotes relayed by Nottinghamshire Live. 

"Everything changes in the mindset of a striker when you score; suddenly everything comes. We are waiting for this click. We trust him."

Nuno also talked about how he has been trying to increase Awoniyi's playing time and was impressed with his performance despite the 3-0 loss to Arsenal last weekend. 

"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."

Nottingham Forest will play Ipswich Town at the City Ground today, and Awoniyi may not start the game. 

The Imperial Academy product joined Forest  from German Bundesliga side FC Union Berlin in the summer of 2022.

Ejim Kaycee

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