Nuno praises Forest desire as late fightback sinks Villa

NOTTINGHAM: Nuno Espirito Santo saluted Nottingham Forest´s “heart” and “desire” after they climbed to fourth place in the Premier League with a stirring fightback to beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Saturday.

With just three minutes left at the City Ground, Forest were trailing to Jhon Duran´s 63rd minute header for top-four rivals Villa. But Nuno´s team levelled with three minutes left when Nikola Milenkovic´s header crept past Emiliano Martinez´s weak attempted save.

And Anthony Elanga´s composed close-range finish in stoppage-time sealed Forest´s third victory in their last four games. “It is a huge moment. After the team went down, the reaction was good. This match was incredible. The players gave everything and had a desire to go beyond football,” Nuno said.

“The ending was amazing, the belief and the desire. I was not calm. I was nervous as hell. “It´s not football anymore. It´s about belief. It´s about bouncing back from a hard moment and go again when you are not full of energy but you have the heart.”

After battling to narrowly escape relegation last season, Forest have exceeded all expectations this term, winning eight and losing just four of their 16 league games. They are the only team to beat leaders Liverpool in the Premier League this season and sixth-placed Villa were no match for the spirited group put together by former Tottenham boss Nuno.

Even a world-class save from Martinez to deny Nicolas Dominguez´s close-range effort and a close VAR decision to rule out a Chris Wood strike for offside couldn´t knock Forest off course. The former European champions might not be back to the glory days of Brian Clough´s reign just yet, but Nuno urged them to soak up their time near the top.

“We try and try every day to build something nice that we can identify with the club, the city,” he said. “It is an important moment that we feel when things go against you and you react, that is what I appreciate the most.

“I think it is about enjoying. We are working very hard. We are working with clear plans of improvement and build the team. “We are competing with all the clubs. Our way is about organisation and belief. It is about taking advantage of the moment we have.”