We missed Awoniyi’s speed in the Crystal Palace stalemate- Says a teammate

Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White has played down the impact of Taiwo Awoniyi's absence for Nottingham Forest against Crystal Palace on Saturday after the striker was ruled out with a groin injury.

The Reds drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park in their final match heading into the October international break. It was a frustrating evening for Steve Cooper's side who missed several chances to secure all three points in South London.

And Forest playmaker Gibbs-White believes Forest's options in attack helped to soften the blow of having Awoniyi unavailable against Palace. The 23-year-old pointed out that Chris Wood's attributes were also useful against the Eagle's defence.

"We have different strikers that can play a different sort of role," he told Sky Sports after the game. Credit to Woody [Chris Wood] he's an incredible player and he gives us something completely different to Taiwo. We felt like we missed Taiwo's speed in behind, but we had today Woody's hold-play and I think that's what we needed against Mark and Anderson, they're very good defenders.

"I felt like Woody held the ball up well today. He gives us a different aspect of the game but yes, he [Awoniyi] started the season off Incredibly

and it's unfortunate that he's gonna be out but yeah, like I said we've got good competition in the group now so we will miss him, but we've got other people that can do the job."