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Nuno Espirito Santo rates Nottingham Forest's chances of qualifying for Champions League

Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo is confident that his team can maintain their pursuit of a Champions League spot.

He has encouraged his players to savour their victories with a beer or two after enjoying another fine weekend.

The Portuguese boss believes that celebrating their wins will reinforce the team spirit that has propelled them to fourth place.

Forest secured a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at the City Ground on Saturday night after coming from behind, just a week after defeating Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford.

Nuno was asked if his team could remain in the top four. and said: "We are competing against all the top teams. I think we should enjoy this because these are special moments and this win was very, very special.

"But we must focus on the next task ahead - enjoy this win, have a beer, celebrate - but then we know it is Brentford next and they will be very, very tough."

Nuno was impressed by his team’s determination to win the full three points despite the fact they went 1-0 down and later had an equaliser ruled out for the narrowest of offsides after a VAR check.

"After the VAR decision, it could have had a bad effect, but we reacted so positively," he added.

However, Villa boss Unai Emery was livid with VAR for not ruling an earlier tug on Morgan Rogers' arm as a penalty.

The Spaniard stated: "When I did my TV interview, I had not seen the replays. But now, I have seen them, it is a clear penalty and a big mistake by VAR. The point of VAR is that it is supposed to help the referee."

For the fifth consecutive match, Villa have failed to secure a Premier League victory following a midweek Champions League game.

However, Emery dismissed this as an excuse, stating: "We played in a European competition last season, so the Champions League is not an excuse.

"For 70 minutes we played like we can do, then for 20 minutes we stopped being consistent and strong enough in our defending and now we have lost to one of our rivals."

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