Forest missed Awoniyi against Palace — Gibbs-White

Morgan Gibbs-White has heaped praise on Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace but admits the Tricky Trees missed their talisman Taiwo Awoniyi. Woods started the clash ahead of Awoniyi, who is out for a month.

It was Wood’s first start of the season for Forest against Palace. He has looked a lot sharper during 2023/24 and will now be keen to add more goals to his game if he gets a run in the team.

Gibbs-White came the closest to scoring for Forest on Saturday. His lofted effort had the beating of Sam Johnstone but the ball struck the post and bounced back to the goalkeeper.

The player was quick to pay tribute to Awoniyi after the game too. He believes that Forest will miss his presence and his pace but suggests that Wood can fill in.

He told BBC Sport, “We have different strikers who can create a different role. Credit to Wood, he’s an incredible player and gives us something completely different to Taiwo.

“We missed Taiwo’s pace in behind but we had Wood’s hold-up play. He gives us a different aspect of the game. We’ve got good competition in the group now, so we will miss him but we have people who can do the job.”

This is perhaps the chance that Wood has been waiting for at Forest. His time has now come and he should get plenty of opportunities to show his head coach exactly what he’s capable of.

Wood scored the winning goal for Forest against Sheffield United back in August. His header typified what sort of player he is but now he will want to score more.

The player was added from Newcastle in the January transfer window. After an initial loan, the Reds paid £15 million to land him permanently but he will be out of contract in the summer.

Clearly, he’s a popular figure in the dressing room. With Awoniyi now set to be sidelined for a little while, the player will hope to showcase that he can carry the goalscoring baton for the Reds.