‘We have to achieve what our fans expect’: Nuno Espirito Santo Values Forest’s FA Cup Journey
The Tricky Trees are the highest placed league team to remain in the FA Cup’s last eight, and you would have to go back to 1959 to find the last time Forest lifted the coveted trophy.
They defeated Luton Town 2-0 at the City Ground before Exeter City and Ipswich Town forced 120 minutes and penalties, with Forest prevailing on both occasions.
Matz Sels made the all-important final save to edge his side through, as his manager rushed onto the pitch in expressive delight at the end of the fifth-round match.
Nuno’s men now find themselves in the quarter-finals and one win away from Wembley, where Forest fans made the travel to only three years ago when they won the Championship play-off final against Huddersfield under Steve Cooper.
Their opponents, Brighton, come into the contest in formidable form, unbeaten in seven matches across all competitions, with six wins and a 2-2 draw with Manchester City before pausing for the international break.
The 7-0 humiliation at the start of February seemed a slight blip since either side of that loss, Brighton found consistency under Fabian Hürzeler, despite having the second-most draws in the league.
The Seagulls could make another appearance at the semi-finals of the FA Cup as they did in the 2022/23 campaign with Roberto De Zerbi as manager, which was the season they qualified for Europe for the first time in their history too.
7th place in the Premier League, firmly on form to achieve European football once more, and an FA Cup semi-final place on the cards, the recruitment of Hürzeler has made a swift impact.
The international break could offset the standard Brighton had set, while Nottingham Forest, with two penalty shootout wins under their belt and sitting 3rd in the Premier League, look to continue their strong term.
It is all up for grabs, and Wembley awaits the winner from Saturday evening’s game on the south coast.
Forest Go Abroad
It is not quite the trip to Dubai the players were granted after their 7-0 win over Brighton for a warm-weather training camp, but instead it was representing their national teams, on a large scale.
Only two players from Nottingham Forest’s starting lineup against Ipswich Town prior to the international break were not called up for international duty.
A marker of progress and recognition, no doubt, but the news which fans did not want to hear was that their top goal-scorer would be sidelined for the Brighton game.
Chris Wood limped off in New Zealand’s win over New Caledonia on Monday. Nuno confirmed, “He went to a specialist to do the scan so we wait on the information and see. He is not going to be available for this game. He felt a kick really hard on his hip so there is pain there.”
Taiwo Awoniyi is the expected replacement, and after being relegated to the bench due to Chris Wood’s impressive form in front of goal, he can now prove his worth in this game and in the closing stages of the season if he is needed.
With Chris Wood’s output likely to fade over the next few seasons despite his contract extension, Awoniyi has the chance to become the main man and reassure Forest that digging into the transfer market for a striker may be less necessary.
The more positive news included Morgan Gibbs-White receiving his first England call up and Murillo starting for Brazil in his international debut.
Thomas Tuchel did not favour Gibbs-White to start, but his inclusion in the squad should be treated as the first step to something much bigger, according to the Forest manager.
“Morgan is a top player, top, top player, so much talent, so much quality. The level of performance that he’s been giving to us, with the ball, off the ball. I really admire Morgan.”
Nuno continued, “He doesn’t have to prove anybody wrong. This is not the state of mind that he should have. He has to compete and play and give his teammates and Nottingham Forest everything he has. Things will come naturally.”
In regards to Murillo, Nuno lauded praise on the young centre-back, “he should be proud, it’s something that is not easy to achieve to play for Brazil, recognising all the talent and quality they have.”
“Murillo joined Forest last season so he’s been rising and achieving things in individual aspects, one of those is to play for Brazil, he did it, we are very proud.”
On Manager of the Month Nomination
Nuno, together with the Brighton boss received a nomination for Manager of the Month for their side’s impressive displays in March.
The Nottingham Forest manager’s response was filled with humility, emphasising the collective effort.
“It’s always good to have recognition. It’s all part of the work we are doing together, how can we work together to improve ourselves and keep performing well.”
He affirmed that this nomination signified, “the group is working well, not only the players, but the staff, the club, the fans, everybody that are here and connected to Forest, it is a recognition for everybody.”
Anthony Elanga was also nominated for the Premier League’s Goal of the Month for his left-footed curved effort perfectly placed into the bottom corner against Ipswich Town.
The player to smash home the opener in that same tie was Nikola Milenkovic, who has been recognised as one of the Players of the Month.
The Serb featured in his national team’s lineup for the second leg of their Nations League tie against Austria, where they kept a clean sheet and earned victory.
FA Cup Expectation and A Different Brighton Side
The season has already been one to write in the history books, and with eight games to go in the Premier League, it could go a step further with the FA Cup.
There seems every reason to want more, and the expectation now is that they keep striving to be one of the best teams in the country.
Nuno said, “We love the cup, so we’re going to give it everything that we have to achieve what our fans expect and desire, but before that we have a lot of work and it’s going to be a tough game.”
Brighton stand in the way and they have never won the FA Cup, and join three other teams left to have never lifted the trophy.
The Seagulls had Premier League outfits to get by before advancing on to Forest, as Chelsea failed to stop them and Newcastle United fell to a Danny Welbeck winner in extra-time.
Forest will be tempted to look back on the match where they swooped past Brighton, but the cup, as Forest have found out, unleashes a host of challenges, and the approach should remain grounded.
“I’m always positive that the best things are still yet to come. Games are totally different so we expect a new one against a good team that after that result performed really well.”
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