Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has underlined how important the City Ground factor will be to Nottingham Forest’s bid to secure Champions League football.
Six of the third-placed Reds’ remaining 11 Premier League games this season are at home, where they have not lost since November. The aim for Nuno’s side is to maintain that strong record during a crucial run-in.
Manchester City are the visitors on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off). The reigning champions will be a different prospect to when Forest lost 3-0 at the Etihad in December, having splashed the cash to strengthen in January, but Nuno is confident the support his team receives Trentside can make a big difference.
“I honestly believe that the players feel comfortable playing at the City Ground. Some of them are just anxious to play at the City Ground,” the Portuguese said ahead of the weekend’s clash. “They enjoy it so much and that reflects on the performance of the team.
“More than anything, it's the fans. The noise, the atmosphere, the help that they give us, the extra run that they make us do, the noise that they make when the opponent has the ball. All these things come together. It is huge for us to play at the City Ground.
“It has been very good for us. The City Ground has been helpful. The atmosphere is great. It's always nice to play at the City Ground.”
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Nuno will “assess” his squad ahead of Saturday after the Reds had to come through extra-time and penalties to see off Ipswich Town in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday night. But although it hasn’t necessarily been a vintage campaign for City, he knows a tough test awaits against Pep Guardiola’s men.
“The approach is the same. Nothing changes,” he said. “You have to realise that you're going to play a very, very good team; a team that has been able to clearly dominate in the last years, a coach that has a big impact on the game and fantastic players.
“It is the same approach. It is realising how hard it's going to be but at the same time with the joy of the moment.
“It's going to be even more difficult than it was before (in the away fixture). All the teams have been suffering absences and when the moment comes that players start returning, the adjust that they make to their own squad, they look better. We expect it to be much harder.”
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