A match-winning goal in the Reds’ first home game back in the big time bode well, but Awoniyi had only three Premier League efforts to his name by the end of the calendar year.
He would finish the campaign as the first Forest player to reach double figures in the English top flight since Stan Collymore in 1995.
A flurry of six efforts in his final four games took Awoniyi to that notable landmark.
More of the same was delivered at the start of 2023-24 – as he burst out of the blocks with three in three – and Forest was beginning to earn favor with bettors.co.zm, the betting experts, pooling a wide range of markets from leading sites that cover everything from survival prices to first scorer odds, before fitness issues struck once more.
After being ruled out in mid-November, Awoniyi did not play again until the end of January – sitting out the Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles in the process.
Forest was eager to avoid taking any risks with their star No.9 and eased him back into action.
That process remains ongoing, with Reds boss Nuno Espirito Santo saying to nottinghamforest.news of a rust-shaking exercise: “Strikers are about scoring but for us it’s more than that. They have to work, they have to read the game and when the moment comes put it inside the net. We know he’s struggling in terms of fitness, it’s up to us to manage him.”
Forest is aware of just how important Awoniyi is to their collective cause.
He may have arrived at the City Ground with a hefty price tag around his neck, but he has quickly become a priceless commodity.
Awoniyi has proved a Premier League point where it matters most – out on the field.
Without his goals last season, Forest could easily be playing Championship right now, while the hope is – as covered by bbc.co.uk – that he can replicate those heroics and keep them among the elite for at least another 12 months.
Questions are, however, still being asked.
Capable
It is impossible to ignore the fact that Awoniyi has sat out 27 games – almost three-quarters of an entire campaign – across less than two years.
He may have shown himself to be capable of not only holding his own but getting the better of the finest defenders that the Premier League has to offer, but that skill set is worthless if it cannot be put to good use.
Awoniyi will believe that he has been unfortunate, with injuries merely part of the game, but he needs to show that he can stay fit if potential is to be turned into something more tangible.
