Ange Postecoglou to hand Nottingham Forest lifeline to forgotten striker after Ola Aina injury blow
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(Credit: Imago)
Oliver Walton
Fri 12 September 2025 10:58, UK
One of Ange Postecoglou’s first actions as Nottingham Forest boss looks set to be welcoming a shunned striker back into the first-team fold due to Ola Aina’s injury concerns.
Ola Aina was a key man for Nottingham Forest in their quest to qualify for European competition last season, with two goals and one assist in 35 Premier League appearances.
Nuno Espirito Santo had moulded him into one of the finest right-backs in the Premier League, but he will have wanted to really kick on under Ange Postecoglou, who will have wanted to make him a genuine attacking threat after Aina signed a new contract at Forest in the summer.
He has started the new season well so far, but suffered a huge setback on international duty for Nigeria, with Aina being forced off due to injury against South Africa after just 10 minutes of their World Cup qualifying clash on Tuesday (9 September).
The Telegraph’s John Percy (12 September) has now confirmed that Aina is set to be out for three months with a hamstring injury in a massive blow to Forest and new boss Postecoglou, but his problem is set to directly hand another Reds player the chance to shine in the Premier League this season.
Aina is facing a lengthy layoff just three games into the new season (Credit Getty Images)
Aina’s absence for such a long period means that he has been excluded from Forest’s Premier League squad, which was submitted on Thursday.
The Telegraph (12 September) have also reported that striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who was also left out of Forest’s Europa League squad, will now be named in the domestic squad due to the severity of the Nigeria international’s injury.
Awoniyi will be welcomed back into the fold – Copyright: MI News
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Awoniyi was linked with a move away from Forest during the summer window as the likes of Arnaud Kalimuendo and Dan Ndoye arrived to take up space in attack, but he will now seemingly be handed the chance to prove himself to Postecoglou.
Even though he has been given a lifeline at the City Ground, it feels more like Forest are covering themselves in case of emergency rather than planning to allow Awoniyi to start games again ahead of other striker options.
He was a fan-favourite for the way he adapted to life in the Premier League in his debut 2022-23 campaign, as he netted 10 goals in 27 league games, but the last two seasons have seen him struggle to find the net and start regularly due to Chris Wood‘s good form.
AppearancesGoalsAssists85194Awoniyi’s Forest career stats
Awoniyi has scored just seven times in his last 46 top-flight outings, albeit many of those were off the bench, and the arrival of Kalimuendo from Rennes, who bagged 17 times in 33 Ligue 1 matches last term, looks to have relegated him to third-choice centre-forward.
Regardless of why he is back in the league squad, the 28-year-old will likely just be pleased to potentially have the chance to be called upon to make his mark, especially considering he was facing a bleak few months on the fringes before Aina’s injury.
As for the right-back, the timing of this problem could not really have been much worse, as he will now not get a chance to stake his claim under the new head-coach, and his position may be taken by the time he is fit again in December.