Nuno Espirito Santo says Forest fans ‘deserve’ to celebrate after Leicester win
Nuno speaking to the media ahead of Forest's trip to Stamford Bridge
By Callum Wright
Nottingham Forest fans entered party mode after striker Chris Wood starred in an impressive win away at East Midlands rival Leicester City.
Forest went into the game on Friday (October 25) knowing that a win would take them up to a provisional fifth place
They also knew that it would mark their first meeting with former head coach Steve Cooper after he was sacked by the Reds last December.
Nuno Espírito Santo named an unchanged starting 11 to the squad that beat Crystal Palace 1-0 the previous Monday.
The only change overall was the re-introduction of James Ward-Prowse to the bench after his return from suspension.
Leicester had several changes introduced, with Ricardo Pereira, Harry Winks and Abdul Fatawu replacing Victor Kristiansen, Oliver Skipp and Bilal El Khannouss.
The sides went into the interval level after Ryan Yates’ well-struck finish was cancelled out shortly after by Jamie Vardy.
But much of the thanks for the score remaining even was Leicester’s keeper Mads Hermansen, who put up a brilliant performance in the Foxes goal.
He couldn’t stop the second-half onslaught however and Chris Wood continued his fine goal-scoring form with a brilliant finish early on to put the Reds back in the lead.
The New Zealand international wasn’t finished there though and pounced on a long ball from keeper Matz Sels to overpower defender Wout Faes and head the ball over Hermansen to put Forest 3-1 up.
It was head coach Nuno’s second game of his three-match touchline ban, and with the team so far picking up maximum points despite his absence, he says the players should be congratulated.
“It’s not the best place to be [the stands] but the communication was good with the coaching staff,” he told Forest TV.
“It’s more important that anything is not interfering with the players, so they were there to do their jobs and they did it amazing.”
The Forest faithful were in fine voice at the King Power Stadium, with some of the chanting directed towards Steve Cooper before they began serenading current head coach Nuno – the man appointed as his successor.
Talking about the fans, Nuno added: “It’s a joy to see our fans celebrate during and after the game, this is what we play for.
“They deserve it since last season was so this is a moment for them to enjoy.”
Nottingham Forest’s next match will be against West Ham United back home at the City Ground next Saturday (November 2), with a 3pm kick-off.
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