Nuno Espirito Santo urges Nottingham Forest players to keep feet on the ground

LONDON – Nuno Espirito Santo is not getting carried away by Nottingham Forest’s form that has seen them enter the English Premier League title race following a sixth victory in a row, away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Jan 6.

Their 3-0 success was their joint-biggest win of the season – and a ninth clean sheet – which left them six points behind league leaders Liverpool, whom they will host on Jan 14.

Forest had goalkeeper Matz Sels to thank in the first half and the clinical nature of their performance saw them score with each of their three shots on target.

“It feels good. We work very hard to achieve what we have,” Nuno told Sky Sports.

“Today was a tough game. Wolves had chances and Matz Sels was amazing to keep us in the game. I’m really proud of the work ethic of the players and the desire to go in front and score.

“It’s a very tough competition. We are always going to face tough opponents. We need to stay humble. We haven’t achieved anything yet. We need to work until the end and this can lead us to good moments.”

England international Morgan Gibbs-White and the in-form Chris Wood struck before half-time and substitute Taiwo Awoniyi rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.

Forest remain third in the table but move level on 40 points with Arsenal. Liverpool have a game in hand on the two teams so the Reds could in fact be nine points ahead.

But even if a shock title challenge proves beyond Nuno’s men, they are building up an impressive cushion in the race for Champions League football next season.

They are five points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle and six in front of struggling champions Manchester City in sixth.

A top-four finish would guarantee a return to the continent’s elite competition for the first time in 45 years for the two-time European champions.

Nuno, however, reiterated that he was keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite his side’s form that has seen them claim 40 points from 20 games, matching Leicester City’s haul at the same stage of the 2015-16 season when they became surprise Premier League winners.

“My ambition is always the same,” the Portuguese added. “As coaching staff we have this natural ambition of improving the players, this is what we are obsessed with.

“If we improve the players then the team will improve and if the team improves then the club will improve.”

Looking ahead, the 50-year-old believes that the confidence of his players will be high going into their home clash with Liverpool next week.

“The performance and the results help with confidence – you saw Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga today, they were confident and creating many problems (for Wolves),” he said.

“This is what we want to see from our players, to feel good on the pitch and to work hard. But before Liverpool we have Luton Town (on Jan 11) and we have to think about the FA Cup.”
REUTERS, AFP