Nottingham [UK], April 22 : Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo admitted that no one at the club expected that they would sit in the third spot in the month of April, but has backed his team to embrace the challenge of holding onto the spot that would see them qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season.
Nottingham Forest slipped to sixth in the Premier League standings in the aftermath of Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa victories over the weekend, but responded with aplomb against Tottenham Hotspur and secured a 1-2 triumph.
Efforts by Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood put Nottingham in control, and Richarlison's late header proved ineffective as Forest climbed to the third spot with 60 points.
"First of all, we have to realise that we are in a fight that no one expected, us included, and it's normal, but I don't want to prove nobody wrong. It's about us. We have a big desire to compete, and the players enjoy. We are in the mix against big teams, and that can only make us proud," Nuno said as quoted from Sky Sports.
"We embrace the challenge. We are ahead of a big week for us, we're going to Wembley to compete against a big team, and there are a lot of games ahead of us. As long as we keep this approach, competing well, you never know," he added.
Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels reflected on their ongoing season and told Sky Sports, "With 66 points, you are normally quite sure to finish in the top five, but this season, it might be a little bit more because all the teams around us keep winning. There's five games to go, and we know what we need to do."
"We will see where we can end up but we already played an amazing season. We can be proud of what we did up until now but we want to give everything to finish there in the top five. I did well in the last years in France but maybe the people here in England do not follow that league. The last deadline day was not easy to stay here with Forest but the Gaffer had a plan and he created something really good," he added.
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