Defensive decision: Nottingham Forest high rated player OUT of the revealed XI

Defensive decision: Nottingham Forest high rated player OUT of the revealed XI to face Chelsea

Given that Nottingham Forest has only lost once in their first six top-flight games of 2024–25, it’s safe to say that the countless hours of work Nuno, his coaching staff, and his players have put in behind the scenes are paying off handsomely. On Sunday afternoon, Nottingham Forest will travel to Chelsea.

Unlike in the past, when Nottingham Forest’s training facility resembled a crowded London subway during rush hour, Nuno Espirito Santo made it his goal to cut excess weight from a big roster and replace it with a more intimate, competitive, and smaller group.

According to reports, the Iberian feels that 21 players is the ideal quantity.

Furthermore, after letting go of numerous unimportant players during the summer, including Odysseas Vlachodimos, Joe Worrall, Remo

Freuler, Scott McKenna and Matt Turner among those to depart – Nuno certainly got his wish.

Nuno Espirito Santo repeats two words to his Nottingham Forest squad

The Telegraph reports that Nuno’s faith in a smaller squad comes from the idea that it gives every member of the roster the belief that they can earn a place in the matchday squad.

There are not quite so many moping around the training ground these days, wondering why they bother to put in the hard yards on the training pitch when they are going to be left out when the weekend arrives.

A smaller squad, as Nuno explained multiple times during his spell in the Wolves dugout too, creates a feeling of both togetherness and competitiveness behind the scenes.