Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says his side believe they can have a special season after enjoying a Boxing Day success over Tottenham. Anthony Elanga’s first-half goal saw Forest register a fourth successive Premier League win for the first time since 1995 as they strengthened their European ambitions.
They sit third, with a five-point cushion over fifth-placed Newcastle, and are looking a good bet for a surprise Champions League qualification bid, having already amassed more points than the whole of last season. Nuno says his side have belief but remained typically pragmatic.
“The table doesn’t mean anything, what is significant for us is what we felt today, the City Ground singing going out, this is what is beautiful for us,” he said. “The belief is here, but the belief doesn’t hide the reality. The reality says we have achieved nothing yet and we have two days to recover and rest to compete against Everton, this is the reality.
“We believe that we can compete as long as everybody understands that every player in the squad is huge for us, especially in this schedule that we have.”. While Forest are dreaming of Europe, Tottenham’s nightmare season took another turn for the worse, with a fifth defeat from eight league matches.
We believe that we can compete as long as everybody understands that every player in the squad is huge for us. It was their first Boxing Day loss since 2003 and left them languishing in the bottom half of the table. The defeat increased the pressure on embattled boss Ange Postecoglou, whose post-match press conference lasted little more than two minutes.
