Awoniyi endured a groin injury in November, sidelining him for two months and limiting his Premier League appearances to just 15 games thus far.
Upon his return in late January, he faced further setbacks, being forced off early after scoring in the 2-0 victory against West Ham. Subsequently, he played the first half of the 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa and completed the entirety of the match against United.
Despite his recent good form, the attacker failed to capitalize on his six goals this season during Wednesday’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, despite registering seven shots on goal, only two of which were on target.
With an average of a goal every three matches this campaign, the Nigerian has shown promising performances in recent weeks, notably securing a goal and an assist in his previous two matches.
Rooney advice to Awoniyi on improvement
The former England and Manchester United striker offered some valuable tips to help Taiwo Awoniyi increase his goal output.
Wayne Rooney has elaborated on how Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi can enhance his goal-scoring prowess by being more astute in the final third.
Rooney was on punditry duty for BBC Sport and at full-time assessed Awoniyi’s first full 90 minutes in three-and-a-half weeks. “As a forward if you put yourself in the middle of the goal you will get chances,” he said
“He needs to take a little bit more care and perhaps make the extra pass but he will get better opportunities. He has to be ready when those chances come, if he progresses to a bigger club, he will have to be taking those chances.”
According to stats analysts fb.ref, Taiwo Awoniyi has an expected goals ratio of 4.7 this campaign, essentially meaning he has scored one more than he was expected to this season. Former Forest academy graduate Jermaine Jenas says the striker still has more to add to his game to become a real danger to defences.
He said: “Awoniyi causes problems all game but he just needs that extra bit of finesse, to find the corner. It’s like he’s just swinging at it all of the time and that extra bit of quality is just not quite there.”