It is a quick turnaround for Nottingham Forest as they prepare for part two of their Manchester double-header.
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged as such in his pre-match press conference at the City Ground on Thursday afternoon. The previous evening he had taken questions from some of the same faces after his team’s 3-0 defeat to City, and here he was doing it all again looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Old Trafford to take on United (5.30pm kick-off).
“It was just a couple of hours ago,” Nuno quipped as he slumped forward on the desk. No signs of sleep deprivation affecting the Portuguese, though; he was in upbeat mood - just as he was post-match session at the Etihad Stadium.
That is because Nuno can see the Reds are building. They are learning and developing. Even if that doesn’t always translate into results - as was the case in midweek - he is looking at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is a positive one.
Against Ipswich Town at the weekend, Forest ground out the three points. They were not necessarily at their best but they found a way to win. And that is the key in the Premier League, it is about being able to adapt to different situations and finding different ways to get the better of your opponents.
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Nuno is a man who is usually frugal with his words in front of the media and he is rarely animated when delivering an explanation. He doesn’t often give long answers to questions. He certainly doesn’t often give answers which extend to near three minutes long.
But that was the case on this occasion as he took a deep dive into the necessity for his team to have several strings to their bow. It is for that reason he found Wednesday night, in his own words, “useful”.
At 2-0 down, the visitors changed to three at the back for the second half and emerged with positivity. They made a fist of trying to get back in the game. A third goal for City killed it, but there was still an important lesson in there.
Forest are still evolving. Even when they were sitting third in the table, Nuno made that point. Nothing has changed in the intervening weeks; this team still has several steps to take.
Such a factor is important this weekend against a United side under new management. Nuno admitted it is difficult to predict how the hosts will line up for what will be recently-appointed Ruben Amorim’s second home game in the league. The Reds may well have to be adaptable on the night, depending on what they face.
“The team is difficult to predict because at the moment Ruben is changing a lot and is trying to get to know the players better,” Nuno said. “We don’t know exactly who is going to play, but for sure they have quality players.
“The shape is there, but the personnel and the players we cannot clearly identify who is going to start. Our approach is always the same and that is to focus on the things they have been doing - and they have been doing a lot of things well.
“But also let’s try to take advantage. It is always a tough place to go, but let’s be positive and go for the game.”
Forest tried to do that against City. This weekend will be a different type of game, and they will hope one with a different outcome.
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