Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 6, 2025 Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo reacts Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Reuters) - Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is not getting carried away by Nottingham Forest’s eye-catching form that has seen them enter the Premier League title race following a sixth victory in a row, away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
Forest’s 3-0 success was not without alarm but their joint-biggest win of the season, which included an ninth clean sheet, leaves them six points behind league leaders Liverpool, whom they host next week.
The visitors had goalkeeper Matz Sels to thank in the first half and the clinical nature of their performance saw them score with each of their three shots on target.
"It feels good. We work very hard to achieve what we have," Nuno told SkySports. "Today was a tough game. Wolves had chances and Matz Sels was amazing to keep us in the game. I'm really proud of the work ethic of the players and the desire to go in front and score.
"It's a very tough competition. We are always going to face tough opponents. We need to stay humble. We haven't achieved anything yet, we need to work until the end and this can lead us to good moments."
The Portuguese coach said he was keeping his feet firmly on the ground despite his side’s form that has seen them claim 40 points from 20 games, matching Leicester City’s haul at the same stage of the 2015/16 season when they became shock Premier League winners.
"My ambition is always the same," he said. "As coaching staff we have this natural ambition of improving the players, this is what we are obsessed with.
"If we improve the players than the team will improve and if the team improves than the club will improve and the city will be happy."
Nuno believes the confidence of his players will be high going into their home clash with Liverpool in the Premier League on Jan. 14.
"The performance and the results help with confidence -– you saw Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga today, they were confident and creating many problems (for Wolves)," he said.
"This is what we want to see from our players, to feel good on the pitch and to work hard. But before Liverpool we have Luton Town (on Saturday) and we have to think about the FA Cup."
(Reporting by Nick Said; editing by Clare Fallon)
