Nottingham Forest news from Nottinghamshire Live as the Reds prepare to face Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend.
Garry Birtles, a Nottingham Forest veteran, has asked Steve Cooper to start Taiwo Awoniyi against Aston Villa if he is available.
Awoniyi missed two games due to injury before returning ahead of schedule against Liverpool, when he came on for the final 21 minutes. After the game, head coach Cooper stated that he had kept Awoniyi on the field for a little longer than recommended, but with Chris Wood and Divock Origi out injured, Forest were without a recognised striker to start at Anfield.
Awoniyi has three goals and two assists this season for the Reds, and club legend Garry Birtles hopes he starts against Villa at the City Ground on Sunday as Forest strive for their first win in seven games.
“What do we do with our lack of attacking options?” Who will we be playing? Do you start Taiwo versus Villa and give him 60 minutes? “I’d rather do that than risk bringing him on later to try to save the game,” he said on the Garibaldi Red podcast.
“I preferred to start rather than come on when I played.” You can give it your all for an hour and then call it quits if you’re exhausted. You might have done anything during that time that changed the game. It is always more difficult to modify it by coming on.
“My biggest concern earlier in the season was what if Taiwo got hurt?” Chris stepped in and did an excellent job, but he is now injured. We can now struggle. Strikers are that essential at any level.
“If you lose them you’ll suffer. When Brennan set up Son (against Crystal Palace), I believed we were missing Brennan. Forest is concerned because of upcoming huge games.
“We have two tough games coming up.” We should have beaten Palace and, of course, we should have beaten Luton. It should not have happened to Luton, but it did. It has put pressure on the upcoming games.”
