Nottingham Forest hit by second injury during FA Cup tie against Exeter City
Striker Taiwo Awoniyi was stretchered off late on during Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup tie with Exeter City.
The Nigerian was on the end of a nasty collision in the box during the fourth round game. He was stretchered off with 103 minutes on the clock and replaced by Chris Wood.
Awoniyi had been down for a long period before he was carried off. However, once he had been substituted he was then spotted walking around the side of the pitch, in hopefully a positive sign for the Reds.
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Forest had already lost goalkeeper Carlos Miguel to injury. The Brazilian was replaced by Matz Sels in the 59th minute after conceding two goals.
The game at St James Park went into extra-time after it had finished 2-2 at the end of the 90 minutes. Ramon Sosa and Taiwo Awoniyi had scored for the visitors.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Reds went into the clash in Devon as the highest ranked team remaining in the competition and eager to avoid suffering the same fate as Premier League leaders Liverpool. Arne Slot’s side were knocked out by Plymouth Argyle, who are bottom of the Championship, on Sunday and Forest went into the clash keen to avoid being on the end of a cup upset against their League One opponents in Devon.
The Reds have just returned from a warm-weather training camp in Dubai as they took advantage of a break in their fixture schedule. Nuno has admitted the success of their trip will be judged by how results unfold in the coming weeks, including against the Grecians.
The Portuguese named a much-changed line-up from Forest’s last league game, when they thumped Brighton and Hove Albion 7-0. He had pledged to give minutes to players who have been struggling for regular game time, in the same way he did against Luton Town in the third round. Nuno made 10 changes to his starting XI, with Danilo the only survivor from the victory over the Seagulls.
