The Independent
·6 January 2025
The Independent
·6 January 2025
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says he will not look at the Premier League table until the end of the season despite his side opening the door to a surprise title challenge with a 3-0 win at Wolves.
Arne Slot’s men visit the City Ground next week in a clash which is likely to decide whether Forest could challenge for the title.
But Nuno is not even contemplating the idea of addressing that prospect.
Asked whether or when he will look at the league table, he replied: “Maybe the end of the season, I will take a look. At the end of the season, I will take a look, I will promise you guys.”
Nuno added when asked if his side were in a title race: “We play Luton in the FA Cup at the City Ground next, which is huge for us. It is a good chance for us.
“I’m sorry to not answer your question directly, but this is the reality. We must prepare well for that game.
“The FA Cup is important and it is a good chance for us in terms of the squad.
“We can give minutes to players, because it is a very long season and we need all the players to have minutes. They need to have fitness and rhythm. So first, Luton.”
It meant Forest racked up six consecutive top-flight wins for the first time since 1979 when they managed the feat across two seasons when Brian Clough was in charge – a fitting achievement as Monday marked 50 years since the Forest great was appointed at the City Ground.
“It means a lot for us because Brian Clough is a legend of the club,” the Portuguese added. “You can see it all over Nottingham, in our stadium and in our training ground, references to Brian Clough. That can only inspire us.
“But we have to keep on going. Our happiness is based on how the players are working together; this is what makes us really proud and happy.”
Wolves, missing talisman Matheus Cunha, remain in trouble at the other end of the table, losing under new boss Vitor Pereira for the first time, with three missed chances in the first half proving costly.
Cunha was joined on the sidelines by a host of other players, with Pereira focusing on the positives.
“I think we did what was possible to do,” he said.
“We faced a lot of problems this week, different problems, injury problems. In the end we played with 11 players and 11 players that were giving everything to get another result.
“I’m happy with the players, I am proud of them because they tried everything.
“I can’t say to anybody that they didn’t run, they didn’t fight, they didn’t try their best.
“In the end 3-0 is a heavy result but we must understand why it happened and if you understand why it happened we know what we must work on to improve this.”