Nottingham Forest recently beat Aston Villa in dramatic circumstances during a Premier League clash under the City Ground lights.
The Reds came from behind to secure victory thanks to goals from Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga who scored in the dying embers of the game.
Nuno Espirito Santo earned praise from Jamie Redknapp after that game and he thought that a big shift had been made towards how Forest are perceived in the media.
The Villa manager that night, Unai Emery, was complimentary about the Reds following that particular defeat for his team and ahead of this week’s Boxing Day game, he’s been crediting Forest once more.
Unai Emery mentions Forest when discussing the Premier League
Emery was quizzed on the league as a whole and whether or not the standard in the Premier League was starting to change.
Last year’s champions Manchester City have just one win in 13 matches and with Forest in fourth and Bournemouth in fifth some are suggesting that the spark is now lacking.
That seems awfully detrimental to clubs such as Forest and discounts the fact that we are where we are based on our performances and the level of our play.
Emery doesn’t agree anyway and he still believes the Premier League is an extremely tough division to play in.
He said during his press conference: “It is not changing. When I arrived here, my thoughts were that it is the most difficult league. A lot of teams have capacity, with good players, good coaches and good history. Different moments for different teams.
“Now is the moment for Nottingham Forest, but their history is a huge history in the Premier League and even in the Champions League, with two wins.
“Bournemouth now as well, are performing very well. There are a lot of teams now getting more points than normal.
“Those points they are getting is because the quality of the teams and players is very high.
“The league is a very interesting league, very motivating for us, each match how we can get points and be better. Now we are sixth, we are trying to focus on each match, and be consistent.
“We are feeling better at home, but away, it is completely different. It’s our challenge. Our next challenge is Newcastle away.”
Forest have to keep working to achieve success this season
As Forest fans, we’re under no illusions that finishing in the top eight and securing European football this season will be extremely tough.
However, it’s refreshing right now to be on the eve of Christmas and not have to worry about potentially being relegated this season.
Forest are under no illusions that progress is needed across the course of a campaign and there is still work to do this season.
Espirito Santo has already pledged to avoid complacency and ultimately, Forest have a head coach with the club’s best interests firmly at heart.
Emery is right to defend clubs like Forest and it’s about time the likes of the Reds and Bournemouth got a little bit more respect for their efforts this season.
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