England's Lionesses legend Karen Carney has praised Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White for his heartfelt tribute to injured Nigerian teammate Taiwo Awoniyi during Forest's 2-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League.

Gibbs-White opened the scoring for Forest in the 11th minute after capitalizing on an error by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. Following his goal, the England international lifted a shirt dedicated to Awoniyi, who is currently recovering from a serious abdominal injury.

The Super Eagles striker was recently placed in an induced coma after suffering a ruptured bowel during Nottingham Forest's Premier League clash with Leicester City. Awoniyi had collided headfirst with the goalpost after coming on as a substitute during the match. He was immediately rushed to hospital where he underwent two emergency surgeries before coming out of the coma on Wednesday.

Carney, who was on punditry duties for Premier League Productions, commended Gibbs-White's gesture, saying: "It's a shocking decision from the goalkeeper. Like Stuart said there, Gibbs-White isn't going to miss. And a nice celebration for Awoniyi — hopefully he's on the recovery as well."

Nottingham Forest doubled their advantage just after the hour mark when Nikola Milenkovic headed home following a lengthy VAR check. The victory has positioned Forest seventh in the Premier League table, level on points with sixth-placed Manchester City and just one point behind Aston Villa.

The win keeps Nottingham Forest's European qualification hopes alive as the Premier League season approaches its conclusion, while the team continues to rally around their recovering Nigerian striker.