Nottingham

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo insists he has no regrets after failing to land another striker for Nottingham Forest.

The club were unable to complete deals for PSV Eindhoven forward Santiago Gimenez and Eddie Nketiah, who eventually joined Crystal Palace from Arsenal, in the transfer window.

It has left them light up front with Chris Wood backed up by Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis, although new attackers Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva can deputise if needed.

Forest, unbeaten in their opening three games, go to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday and Nuno remains happy with his options.

He said: "In the transfer window we were looking for many options that could help us. The main thing was we looked for someone who could improve us and someone who wanted to be with us. These two things are very important.

"There was no disappointment at all, the main objective was to keep the players we wanted to keep.

"This is something which is good for us in the development of the squad and, afterwards, knowing we have solutions. To believe in them, trust them and to develop them."

Wood has returned from New Zealand's games against the United States and Mexico before Forest's trip to Anfield.

He will be assessed following his transatlantic travel but remains first choice. Awoniyi has struggled to prove his fitness, while Dennis' long-term future appears to be away from the City Ground after two loans last season.

Nuno added: "Chris is a competitor. He is ready to play. What we have to do is manage him before and after the games - but he is always available.

"We know and trust who we have and we have solutions. It's up to us to develop these versatile players who I think can do these positions."

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In the latest episode of Shut Up And Show More Football, Nottingham Forest's "potential" was discussed as well as how they can maximise it should key players become targets for "bigger clubs."

Commentator Colin Fray spoke to David Jackson about Forest's progression: "When Nuno [Espirito Santo] talks about developing his players and looking at wide players who might be able to give them something up front, he is looking at a squad now where he has potential and he has got options.

"The other one we didn't mention is Eric da Silva Moreira, 18 years of age, what a start he has made to his Forest career. He was fantastic in the League Cup tie against Newcastle and he has played age group football for Germany against England during this last international break.

"The potential for Forest is to just keep going for as long as they can, producing these kind of players, accepting the fact that somewhere along the line, if the development continues to go in the direction that it is going, that these players are going to be worth a lot of money and they are going to attract bids from bigger clubs.

"Eventually they are going to lose one or two of them and maybe more over the years but if in that time they have accelerated Forest further up the Premier League table, they have helped to solidify Forest in the heart of the Premier League if you like and they are no longer looking over their shoulders and scrapping in relegation every year, then that is progress.

"You look at the recruitment a la Brighton, move players on for big money, look for the next one who is coming through for not very big money who you can then develop over the next couple of years.

"Yes they might have to move on but they will have helped to take the club higher and higher and that's life for a club that's not in the top six, that has not got European football and that can't expect players to stay there necessarily forever and ever.

"As long as a squad continues to be put together that can develop that young talent and can take the club forward, that is what is being asked and I certainly think they've done that and the squad is certainly a lot smaller."

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On Thursday, we asked for one thing you have spotted about Nottingham Forest so far this season that has gone under the radar. Put simply, what is something nobody is talking about but should be?

Here are some of your suggestions:

Kris: A lot of people are talking about the influence of Morgan Gibbs-White and our attacking options in wide areas. What less people have talked about is the calm assurance Nikola Milenkovic has brought to our defence. Conceding from set pieces seems less of a foregone conclusion and, conversely, we now have a genuine threat of our own.

Tim: The biggest change to Forest's season so far is the signing of Milenkovic. He is a world-class centre-back and has made all of the back four, and Matz Sels, look so much more secure. It gives confidence to the midfield and allows us to attack with more freedom. Nikola is the signing we absolutely needed - and for a good price.

Simon: Ola Aina is a class act and the most underrated player in the Forest squad.

Stuart: It is testament to the quality of Elliot Anderson that he has slotted into the team so seamlessly. An instant first-team player with bags of quality, playing out of position when needed and pushing Morgan Gibbs-White to better performances. Three games in and it’s clear we got a great deal when signing him.

Dave: No one seems prepared to give Forest credit for the huge increase in squad quality versus two years ago. People couldn’t wait to give us stick for the number of recruits in 2022 but we needed them (mostly). Look at the number of international call-ups versus the line-ups we were putting out in September 2022 against Bournemouth, Fulham etc..

Evan: Scoring when the team is playing well and being clinical. Five points could easily have been nine. Don’t make a habit of playing well and under-scoring (goals and points) as no team is too good to go down! Leeds and Leicester recently, and Newcastle and West Ham further back can attest to that!

In the latest episode of Shut Up And Show More Football, David Jackson and Colin Fray spoke of their delight as Morgan Gibbs-White made his debut for England's senior men's side, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute during the recent international break.

"It was a lovely moment on Saturday evening when he came on as a substitute [for Jack Grealish against the Republic of Ireland] and made his way on to the pitch," Jackson said.

"Just about everybody in Nottinghamshire in one way or another, showed their pride on social media.

"That feeling, it has been a long time since we had a Forest player representing England and seeing Gibbs-White run out on to the pitch you sort of felt like a proud dad. There goes a Forest player playing for England again.

"It has been over a quarter of a century we have waited for this moment. For the decade or more before that, it was commonplace and now we have had a long time.

"It is going to be really tough for him from now on to get back in. He's going to have to really keep producing and take it on to another level as well because this time an opportunity presented itself because Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham had pulled out before.

"He has got there, he's got that England cap, now his aim is to build on that and get more, it's going to be a big ask."

Gibbs-White has tasted success with England at youth level, winning the Under-21 European Championship last year and the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 with former Forest boss Steve Cooper.

Fray added: "Taken for granted I think by a generation of Forest fans but then another generation has come along and never seen it. It's another one of those generational moments that has been a feature of Forest over the last three or four years.

"It is just great to see and the reward for some very good performances as well. You don't just get an England call-up. To be fair, there were a lot of injuries but he has taken his chance and gone in there and done well with the minutes that he had.

"But even with injuries you don't get an England call-up for the sake of it, you get an England call-up because you are playing well at your club level and you're a very, very good player and you've been working hard as Nuno [Espirito-Santo] said. Many, many congratulations to him, it was a great moment and it was another one of those moments that for a Forest fan of a certain age, they will have never experienced before and that is a Forest player taking the field in an England shirt.

"It's shown over the last quarter of a century or so how difficult it is to be at those kind of levels where you are capable of producing England players."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Nuno Espirito Santo has known Morgan Gibbs-White since the midfielder was 17 years old.

The pair worked together at Wolves and Nuno gave Gibbs-White a platform as a teenager as they won the Championship in 2018. It means he has seen the now 24-year-old at his highest and lowest, both on and off the pitch.

Gibbs-White made 32 appearances in all competitions in 2018-19 - after Wolves returned to the Premier League under Nuno - before struggling to make a consistent impact the next year and was caught breaking Covid regulations in May 2020.

Loans at Swansea and Sheffield United meant he took steps back in order to go forwards before his switch to the City Ground from Wolves in 2022 and, ultimately, a reunion with Nuno.

He has flourished at Forest, proving those who questioned a price tag which could rise to £42m wrong, to earn his first senior England cap against Ireland on Saturday.

Nuno prefers not to heap praise on individuals so when asked about the new England man on Thursday he pivoted to praising all of Forest's internationals during the break but, tellingly, he expects Gibbs-White to improve after his time with the Three Lions.

Some could view it as a bit of psychology - but it is Nuno's way of continuing to push a player he has helped mould over the last seven years.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Wood will be given every chance to prove his fitness for Nottingham Forest's trip to Liverpool.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo takes his side to Anfield on Saturday aiming to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

Wood played 74 minutes of New Zealand's 1-1 draw with the USA in Cincinnati in midweek having already featured for 70 minutes in the 3-0 defeat against Mexico in California at the weekend.

He is now back in Nottingham and will evaluated by the club's medical staff.

"This is the bad part of the international break - we have one day to assess and make a decision," said Nuno.

"This is what we have to assess tomorrow. Some of them have had long travels. Some of them have played more or less minutes. We have one day to make decisions."

Willy Boly suffered a calf problem in training with the Ivory Coast and is a major doubt while Danilo is a long-term absentee after his ankle break on the opening day against Bournemouth.

However, West Ham loanee James Ward-Prowse and defender Morato could make their debuts. Midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White is also available having made his England debut in the 2-0 win in Ireland on Saturday.

"We as a club are very proud, not only for him, but all the players we have seen on international duty," added Nuno. "We are delighted for them.

"Morgan joined all the age stages of the national team - it was a matter of time. He had the quality and ambition to play for England [and] it was always one of his goals.

"He achieved it and hopefully he can repeat it."

Sarah Rendell
BBC Sport journalist

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Liverpool (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On if players who have travelled for the international break are going to be fit: "This is what we have to assess tomorrow. All of them are here with the exception of [Ramon] Sosa. He arrives this afternoon, but we are assessing. We have one day to assess and make the decision."

• Nuno said the club is "proud" of Morgan Gibbs-White for winning his first England cap: "He enjoyed all the [age] group stages of the national team. He was a world champion. It was a matter of time, I think, because of his talent, quality and ambition to play for England. He is delighted. It was always one of his goals. He has achieved it and I hope he repeats it."

• On Morato and James Ward-Prowse: "I think they have adapted well to the group. They are totally integrated and enjoying their football, preparing themselves for the chance when it comes. Easier for James, of course but for Morato, like all the players that have joined us, the squad has received him really well."

• On what Ward-Prowse can offer the team in the midfield: "He is different. His experience and quality, his talent and his knowledge of the game. I think he can help us a lot."

• Nuno was also asked about Nikola Milenkovic: "First of all his quality and the way he has been working with us since the beginning shows he is very focused and very determined. He is a competitor. Every moment of a training session, he is always trying to do better. That is the spirit that we want, someone that brings this mentality to what we already have. A very nice guy."

• He knows a trip to Liverpool will be a difficult challenge: "They are a very good team first of all. Very good players and they have started very well. Some things are different [under Arne Slot than under Jurgen Klopp]. Some things are the same - the players and the core are there. But always a very tough team and we know we are going to face a very good opponent."

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Liverpool v Nottingham Forest - listen to full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live from 15:00 BST on Saturday