Nuno Espirito Santo is cautious of resurgent Leicester Metropolis as he prepares his Nottingham Forest gamers for a Kingpower Stadium reunion with former boss Steve Cooper on Friday evening.
Cooper has masterminded wins over Bournemouth and Southampton, the latter a shocking comeback triumph from 2-0 down on Saturday, and seems to be discovering his toes at Leicester after being appointed over the summer time.
He was sacked by Forest final December regardless of ending the membership’s 23-year absence from the highest flight. Nuno changed him on the Metropolis Floor and was filled with reward for his predecessor.
He mentioned: “Steve did an incredible job right here at Forest and he’ll all the time be remembered by the membership, by the followers.
“He achieved one thing wonderful that put us within the Premier League and we are attempting to comply with the wonderful work of Steve.”
Nuno appears to be like forward to Friday evening 🎙️
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 23, 2024
Nuno – Leicester are a tricky workforce
Of East Midlands rivals Leicester, he added: “Robust workforce, robust match. They’ve come from two good performances and two good outcomes, it’s not straightforward to attain back-to-back wins within the Premier League, they’ve executed it. That ought to inform that they’re in an excellent second enjoying good.
“It’s going to be onerous and difficult and also you go there to attempt to battle and be higher than them. It’s all the time the identical philosophy.”
Forest have made an excellent begin this season and sit eighth within the Premier League having misplaced simply one among their opening eight video games.
They noticed off Crystal Palace on Monday regardless of the absence of England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, who might return together with his progress described as “day-to-day”.
Performs down significance of off-field flashpoints
Nuno will probably be absent from the touchline once more on Friday after receiving a three-match suspension for his crimson card at Brighton final month whereas Forest proprietor Evangelos Marinakis has appealed a five-game stadium ban for allegedly spitting on the ground as referee Josh Smith walked previous him following the 1-0 defeat to Fulham.
The 2 incidents don’t paint Forest in a very good mild however Nuno insists they don’t seem to be a distraction. He mentioned: “Hopefully not. Now we have to stay to what we are able to management inside the pitch. However hopefully, it doesn’t distract us and we carry on being targeted and being switched on for what’s inside the pitch.”
