Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo will watch Tottenham’s Europa League game closely.
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Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been previewing his side’s clash with Tottenham on Monday night. Spurs have little to play for in this one, now as low as 15th in the table and placing almost all focus on the Europa League.
Ange Postecoglou’s men may have put together a disastrous campaign, but they are now in the Europa League semi-final, facing Bodo/Glimt in the next round, holding a serious chance of reaching the final in Bilbao. That will give Tottenham a shot at Champions League qualification, so it will be no surprise to see players already have their eyes on those European fixtures.
As for Forest, they are now in fourth place, holding only a two-point lead over Manchester City in fifth and a three-point lead over Chelsea, keeping in mind fifth place will also be a Champions League spot. Santo’s men have been in third place for much of the season, but back-to-back defeats have seen them slip a little, although they have not been helped by the recent absence of Chris Wood.
Wood is now nearing a return, and he could be in contention for Monday night’s clash with Tottenham, with Santo confirming in his pre-match press conference: “We have to manage Chris. He has been out for a while. Everton was good but not as good as we want. We are positive that on Monday he will be better."
Asked about Tottenham’s away win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final second leg, former Spurs boss Santo said: “We are going to watch the game. It's a big game and, for us, for analysis. It will determine what we expect for the Monday night line-up. Our focus is on that."
Santo also answered a question about the intense pressure on Ange Postecoglou, saying: “All managers, we face the same. It's up to us to try to ignore and focus on the job we can control. Like me, like Ange, like all the managers in the world, what we can control is preparing our players."
Forest’s battle for Champions League football
Forest will be desperately fighting to keep hold of a Champions League spot, but Santo has not been rattled by his side’s slip over the last couple of weeks. "We can speak whatever we want about psychology, but it is about reaction and action. More than reaction, action,” the Forest boss added.
“The expectation around us started the moment we were able to perform and get results. That is the expectation of us achieving something that was not in the initial plans - to fight for the competition that we are fighting at the moment. We are delighted. We embrace the challenge. We are not stepping back, we are stepping in. We want to embrace it. We want to try and get it. It's going to be very hard, but believe me, we are stepping in and putting everything that we have in these final moments of the season.”
Forest face Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Ham and Chelsea in their final games, while they also have an FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City to contend with after this game.