Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi will not take part in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after undergoing surgery for a minor groin injury.
Awoniyi was injured during the 2023-24 Premier League season, but aggravated the injury during Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho.
The 26-year-old then returned to England to begin treatment and missed the Super Eagles’ second World Cup qualifying match against Zimbabwe last Sunday.
However, Forest head coach Steve Cooper provided an update on the Nigerian striker on Thursday, confirming Awonih will be out for “a few months” with a groin injury.
“Bad news for Taiwo. He has to undergo surgery and will be out for several months,” Cooper told Forest’s official website.
“We will support him and try to get him back to health as quickly as possible, but this is a truly unfortunate situation and a blow for him.
“He’s been an important player for us because of the goals he’s scored and continues to score for us, but he’s a very nice guy, a good professional and he’s desperate to do well. , it’s tough to have an injury like this on him.
“We have to support him through the process of coming back stronger. He’s done it once here and I’m sure he’ll give his all again like he did last time. are doing.
“If you think about how well he did when he came back last season, I’m sure that gave him a good baseline to come back to.
“We’ll definitely see him again this season, but it’s going to take a little while because he’s having groin surgery.”
The Super Eagles will play host country Ivory Coast in Group A of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Nigeria will also face two other countries, Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea, in the group stage of the tournament.
Source: guardian.ng