Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo has described the closing stretch of the Premier League season as career-defining for his squad, with the club pushing to secure an unprecedented place in next season’s Champions League.
Currently sitting sixth, Forest remain firmly in the mix for a top-five finish, with the latter enough to qualify for next season’s competition.
A positive result in their upcoming game against Brentford at the City Ground on Thursday could lift them back into one of the qualification spots, with just four matches remaining.
“All the games are the biggest games of our career, this is how we approach it,” said Nuno.
“All the games are going to be very, very important for a lot of teams in this fight. We have one more, let’s try to perform well.
“We are back in the City Ground in front of our fans, it’s a big help.
A message to you from Nuno. 🫵
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) April 29, 2025
“We have never stopped believing, no matter what happens. Throughout the competition, we have had good moments and bad moments and we have been able to react and again it is up to us to react again.”
Forest, a club with a lot of European history that includes two European Cup triumphs, have not appeared in the continent’s top competition since the 1980-81 season.
After being knocked out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage by Manchester City, their focus is now fully on the league run-in.
Despite the pressure, Nuno insists his team is concentrating on one game at a time, starting with Brentford.
“We are only thinking about Brentford now, that is the only thing we have to consider now in our minds, is to compete against them,” he said.
“It’s in our hands, that’s a big advantage.”
