The man who helped Nwankwo Kanu win his third English FA Cup at Portsmouth, veteran coach Harry Redknapp has described Taiwo Awoniyi as a newly-found ‘talisman’ for Nottingham Forest after the Super Eagles striker scored the brace in his side’s 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Saturday.
Awoniyi arrived at the City Ground in the summer from German club Union Berlin in what was reportedly at the time a club record £17 million deal. The 25-year-old got off to the perfect start in a Reds shirt after scoring Forest’s first Premier League goal of the season in a 1-0 win over West Ham back in August.
He has scored eight times in 25 league appearances for Forest so far with his goals playing a vital role in the club’s survival bid. The Reds are three points clear of the relegation zone with just two games left.
“Taiwo Awoniyi’s double at Stamford Bridge means he makes my side for two weeks in a row,” the 76-year-old Redknapp reportedly told BetVictor. “We saw again what a huge threat this lad in the air and he made those two-headed goals look easy.
“He’s becoming Forest’s talisman and with two massive games to go, they’ll need him to keep this form up.”
Meanwhile, Forest’s manager Steve Cooper has heaped praise on the centre forward following his showing on Saturday.
“He (Awoniyi) scored with his head as well which we were very pleased with,” Cooper told Premier League Productions.
“We talked about it and there was a chance at Brentford that we thought he could have done better with, so it was good that he got the two goals. Especially the first one, I think he showed good bravery.
“You always want your striker to score goals and we have goals in the team so I am really pleased for him. Don’t forget he missed large parts of the second half of the season being injured. It shows his commitment to return to the team, play well and now get a few goals which is a real plus.”
The 25-year-old also assisted in the 3-1 win over Brighton at the end of April. He’s hit form at the perfect time for Forest.
At a glance, eight goals is not that much of an impressive return when we’re 36 games into the season. However, Awoniyi missed 15 matches after suffering a groin injury in early January.
He’s made just 15 starts and racked up 1,244 minutes.