Nuno Espirito Santo is wary of resurgent Leicester City as he prepares his Nottingham Forest players for a Kingpower Stadium reunion with former boss Steve Cooper on Friday night.
Cooper has masterminded wins over Bournemouth and Southampton, the latter a stunning comeback triumph from 2-0 down on Saturday, and appears to be finding his feet at Leicester after being appointed over the summer.
He was sacked by Forest last December despite ending the club’s 23-year absence from the top flight. Nuno replaced him at the City Ground and was full of praise for his predecessor.
He said: “Steve did an amazing job here at Forest and he will always be remembered by the club, by the fans.
“He achieved something amazing that put us in the Premier League and we are trying to follow the amazing work of Steve.”
Nuno looks ahead to Friday night 🎙️
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 23, 2024
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Nuno – Leicester are a tough team
Of East Midlands rivals Leicester, he added: “Tough team, tough match. They have come from two good performances and two good results, it’s not easy to achieve back-to-back wins in the Premier League, they have done it. That should tell that they are in a good moment playing good.
“It is going to be hard and tough and you go there to try and fight and be better than them. It’s always the same philosophy.”
Forest have made a good start this season and sit eighth in the Premier League having lost just one of their opening eight games.
They saw off Crystal Palace on Monday despite the absence of England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, who could return with his progress described as “day by day”.
Plays down significance of off-field flashpoints
Nuno will be absent from the touchline again on Friday after receiving a three-match suspension for his red card at Brighton last month while Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has appealed a five-game stadium ban for allegedly spitting on the floor as referee Josh Smith walked past him following the 1-0 defeat to Fulham.
The two incidents don’t paint Forest in a particularly good light but Nuno insists they are not a distraction. He said: “Hopefully not. We have to stick to what we can control inside of the pitch. But hopefully, it doesn’t distract us and we keep on being focused and being switched on for what is inside of the pitch.”
