Nottingham

Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Nottingham Forest's Premier League match against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Ola Aina, Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare have all returned from the Africa Cup of Nations with injuries, making them unavailable for the weekend and they "don't have date to return".

• Asked about the club working with ex-Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg as a referee analyst, Nuno said: "Appointing Mark was more to try to understand decisions that have been made, the interpretation of the referee and VAR. We had an incident against West Ham that was clear. Neither the referee nor VAR made the right decision because it was a penalty, so understanding those decisions."

• On facing Aston Villa at Villa Park, he said: "We will try to do our thing, Villa will try to stop us, we will try to find solutions. It is a game of questions and answers over and over again. We have to prepare our players to do their task and be disciplined, we have to then play our game, combine and attack. It is a game of football, that will not be any different."

• He said "there is no secret" to his and Forest's good Premier League record against Unai Emery and added: "Every game has its own history and tomorrow will be a new one."

• On the confidence boost that might be gained if Forest can achieve back-to-back wins, he said: "[It would] make a big difference. Every time we achieve a good performance and result, we want to replicate it. We know how hard it is to get back-to-back wins, but this is what we want, what we prepare for and what we try to go for tomorrow."

• Nuno said Callum Hudson-Odoi is "playing well and improving" but "there are still lots of things he needs to do better, but I'm really happy with him."

• He added: "We try to improve every player, that is our main obsession to improve all the players, if we can do that it will be fantastic. Since we arrived you say players are improving individually, but that will reflect on the team. All the players are a focus for us and we're determined to improve them - tactically, physically, mentally - this is how we work."

Follow all of Friday's news conference updates

Image source, Getty Images

On the latest episode of the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast, BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray spoke about why Nottingham Forest are working with former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg.

Fray said: "I think the reason for him being there is to help and advise the more senior figures at the club as to why a decision may have been given, and at what time and for what incidents you decide to make complaints or just say 'we'll let it go' - from somebody who has been there, to be able to advise as to what battles are worth fighting really.

"But also, I guess, to advise Nuno [Espirito Santo] for post-match interviews as to how to maybe handle questions that may arise. He may be one of the first figures that Nuno goes to post-match because Nuno may be thinking about a controversial incident, he might go to Clattenburg who says 'I wouldn't worry about it too much', and therefore he starts to play it down in the media immediately and it doesn't become an issue."

He added: "It may be the case that a referees' association like PGMOL or the Premier League themselves might be more open to questions from a former referee, rather than someone in a football club who has not been in that position before.

"I can see why one or two people are a little bit puzzled, I was too when I first heard it, but I can also where he can probably fit in. I think there's a few things there where you can see he can help. Whether it will be a long-term thing, who knows?"

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Nottingham Forest have a clean sheet to celebrate, some VAR to debate and a special fan to champion.

This week's Shut Up And Show More Football offers more on 92-year-old Vera Hill and also looks at what's pressing for Nuno and the players next.

The new episode is here