Dion Dublin hailed Nottingham Forest’s occasional six man back line and the defensive spirit instilled by Nuno Espirito Santo for the team securing their fifth clean sheet of the season in a tight game against Ipswich Town.
Reds’ striker Chris Wood scored the only goal of the game from an early second half penalty, after which the home side shut up shop to see out the three points for the remaining 40-odd minutes at the City Ground.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker reminded viewers that it had been 30 years since Forest last played Ipswich in the Premier League – an occasion when the Reds "won 4-1 with Haaland on the scoresheet, Alf-Inge that is," before teeing up Saturday’s meeting by saying: “It wasn’t a thriller but Nuno said before the game that he needed to go back to basics after two defeats. He described to us there what basics meant, and he is talking about attitude, and it worked.”
Pundit Dion Dublin agreed, saying: “Yeah, it did work because look, they were solid. They were solid at the back and they were all in the right positions and when they had something to hold onto they remembered what they had done on the training ground. I mean, Murillo and Milenkovic were absolutely brilliant. They just stayed in that centre-backs’ spot, side by side, making sure that (Liam) Delap, the danger man, didn’t get any chance at all.”
Showing footage of Delap being forced out wide, he added: “You allow the ball to be rolled in there because you know that you have got one on the toes of the centre-forward as well. The organisation was great, Milenkovic wants Delap to go in there because he has two or three yards on him. He might not be as quick as him but he knows he’s got him where he wants him.
“He’s in control of Delap, the two centre-halves knowing exactly what to do. There were midfield players going and squeezing the ball and not allowing the player to lift his head up, making a lovely strong tackle and then moving forward and trying to play.
“They were getting behind the ball and trying to be solid; four in a row with no gaps in between them and the two centre-halves drop back. On another occasion they were in a 6-3-1 to make sure that they hold on to what they have got, forcing Ipswich to go through the middle and there’s no way through.
“They tried to play round them but again, numbers, red shirts everywhere. They were asking what have you got to get passed us because we have got the points at the moment, and we’re going to hold onto them because that manager there (Nuno) has taught us how to do so. And I just believe, that’s five clean sheets now.”
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