Nottingham Forest

Newcastle United have made 24-year-old Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White one of their main summer transfer targets. (Mirror), external

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Nottingham Forest’s appeal against their points deduction for breaking profit and sustainability rules will be held next week.

The club’s case to regain any of the four points they have been docked is due to start the week commencing April 22.

They appealed last month after being hit with a points penalty for breaching PSR by £34.5m, although any final decision is not expected straight away.

The appeal comes after Forest, who are a point above the relegation zone, go to Everton on Sunday with the Toffees just a point and a place ahead of them in the Premier League.

Everton were docked a further two points last week for a second PSR breach, having already been hit with a 10-point penalty, reduced to six on appeal, earlier in the season.

The Toffees are also expected to appeal their second sanction.

Any decisions must come by 24 May, five days after the final games of the season - although Forest's case is expected to be completed before then.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo said last week the uncertainty at the bottom of the Premier League harms the competition's integrity.

"It can affect the integrity of the competition, no doubt about it," said Nuno, before Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Wolves.

"In terms of our approach, it will not change. Since we arrived there has always been the same objective, to win the games and realise that we have tough opponents and how we can do things.

"It's a mess because it's appeal after appeal after appeal and we don't know what exactly is going to happen.

"We have expectations, Everton have expectations and the other clubs don't know what is going to happen or for the next season. All these things must be solved as soon as possible.”

Matthew Howarth
BBC Sport journalist

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Nottingham Forest are still waiting on an appeal date for their four-point profit and sustainability punishment, but Premier League safety remains firmly in their hands despite this failure to protect their second-half advantage at the City Ground.

Nuno Espirito Santo will have been frustrated with his team's defending in the build-up to Matheus Cunha's opener, with Andrew Omobamidele and Ryan Yates failing to stop the Brazilian entering the penalty area and firing past goalkeeper Matz Sels.

Goals from former Wolves playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White and Danilo deservedly put Forest ahead, but their lead lasted just five minutes as Cunha converted from point-blank range after Sels parried Toti Gomes' goal-bound header into the forward's path.

Forest have now dropped 50 Premier League points from winning positions since the start of last season, more than any other team.

Whether this was a point gained or two dropped will only become clear at the end of the campaign.

Nuno Espirito Santo spoketo BBC Match of the Day after Nottingham Forest's draw with Wolves: "The feeling that we have is that it's a missed opportunity to take three points. We were the better team today and should have won the game.

"We conceded easily. We did not allow many chances but the ones we did allow was bad defending.

"I think Matheus Cunha was the only player in the box and we had two players against him and we allowed him to turn. It is a bad approach.

On Forest's set piece record: "It is an ongoing situation this season and it is an issue so it is normal that it is spoken about. An easy situation to solve."

On coming back behind: "Offensively we were good. It is not easy to play against a back five, with little spaces. But we created enough chances to win the game. It's going to be a fight until the end and we are here to give it our all."

• Morgan Gibbs-White became just the fourth Nottingham Forest player to register double figures for both goals (10) and assists (15) in the Premier League (after Ian Woan, Bryan Roy and Steve Stone).

• Wolverhampton Wanderers are winless in their past four Premier League games (D2 L2) – their longest run across a season since a five-game spell between October and November 2022.

• Wolves’ Matheus Cunha has been directly involved in nine goals across his past seven Premier League starts (six goals, three assists), as many as in his first 30 starts.

• Danilo has been involved in a goal in both of his past two home Premier League appearances for Nottingham Forest, as many as in his past 12.

• Matheus Cunha became just the fourth different player to score 10 or more goals for Wolves in the Premier League (after Raul Jimenez x2, Steven Fletcher x2 and Hee-Chan Hwang).

Matheus Cunha scored twice as Wolves denied Nottingham Forest a valuable victory in their fight for Premier League survival.

Brazilian forward Cunha, making his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in early February, opened the scoring at the City Ground with a magnificent solo strike midway through the first half.

Carrying the ball from inside his own half to the edge of the Forest penalty area, Cunha skipped between Andrew Omobamidele and Ryan Yates before rifling an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Matz Sels and into the top corner.

Former Wolves playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White drew Forest level just six minutes later, heading home Giovanni Reyna's corner in first-half stoppage time before celebrating in front of the travelling fans.

Nuno Espirito Santo's home side swept ahead in the second half when Danilo powered a low shot beyond Jose Sa from close range, but Cunha bundled home a loose ball from a corner to salvage a point for Gary O'Neil's men.

Wolves remain just outside the top half of the table, while Forest stay perilously close to the relegation zone.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

Forest fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Wolves fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

Six matches make up Saturday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries:

• Man City v Luton

• Bournemouth v Man Utd

All times BST

Follow BBC Radio 5 Live commentaries and live text updates here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on actor and Leyton Orient fan Daniel Mays.

Sutton's prediction: 1-1

This is big for Nottingham Forest, who need to bounce back from last week's defeat at Tottenham.

I always think Wolves are well organised, though, even if their results have dropped off a bit with only one win in their past five games.

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil is still fuming about having a late goal ruled out for offside in their defeat by West Ham but I felt it was the right decision.

Daniel's prediction: 2-2

This is going to be tight.

See the full list of predictions here

Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge believes facing Wolves at this stage of the season may help the Reds.

Forest who are only outside of the relegation zone on goal difference host the West Midlands side on Saturday. Speaking on BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast, Hodge said this is the kind of game they would be hoping to get a result from.

"Wolves is always a standout game. That's not decrying Wolves at all, but they are mid-table and Fulham-ish. Forest beat Fulham in their last home game 3-1, and they'll be hoping for a similar performance on Saturday," he said.

"Wolves have got a bit more nastiness about them than Fulham. Fulham play pretty football but are a bit weak at the back. I think Wolves are a bit more streetwise.

"It won't be easy but if you looked at the league table you'd have probably picked Wolves or Fulham to play at this stage of the season at home when you're desperate to get a result."

After Saturday's game, Forest's next two home games are against title-chasing Manchester City and a Chelsea side who still have hopes of qualifying for Europe.

Hodge said: "That's why the Wolves game is the standout game that we could possibly get three points from as the next two are obviously difficult."

Forest travel to Goodison Park to face Everton after playing Wolves and Hodge, who knows Toffees boss Sean Dyche and his assistants says: "That will be an absolute battle - I'll guarantee that now.

"They'll bomb our box a lot and try to out-physical us and they'll play for free-kicks and corners.

"They'll have a crowd that is riled by their second deduction. That's for fighters that game."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
Senior football news reporter

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Saturday’s Premier League game with Wolves.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Nottingham Forest are waiting on an appeal date for their profit and sustainability punishment of four points with the manager calling the situation a mess.

• Nuno commented: “I have never experienced this situation, none of us have experienced this before. It’s a mess. So much is going on, we cannot clearly know what is going to happen. Let’s wait. Me and the players are only focused on our task. It’s very important we have the decision sooner, it’s better for us and the competition so it doesn’t create, mess, confusion and uncertainty as this is what we experiencing now. It’s always there. What we try is to put it away from our focus. But it is there."

• On his former club Wolves: “They are a very good team, (it’s been a) fantastic job from Gary (O’Neil). They are a tough opponent but we are ready for the game. Every game, especially in the situation we have, we always play for the three points. Sometimes it’s not possible but it is a very important game.”

• He added: “All the games in the Premier League are so hard you cannot minimise the difficulty of your opponent. Wolves are a good team but at the City Ground we have been playing well. We will try. It is a vital game for us.”

• On Chris Wood’s big miss in last week’s 3-1 defeat at Tottenham: “He doesn’t have an issue on that. He has been there before. Missed chances happen, that will not impact his performances.”

• Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly remain out along with Nuno Tavares. “Taiwo is starting his individual programme. He is closer and hopefully can help us this season,” said Nuno.

Nottingham Forest defender Andrew Omobamidele has spoken to BBC East Midlands Today about his football upbringing – which included growing up as part of a family of diehard Reds fans in the Republic of Ireland.

The 21-year-old, who joined Forest from Norwich last summer, says he has his uncle to thank for his lifelong link to the East Midlands club.

“When I was younger and staying at my grandparents house, I used to stay in his room and it was just full of Forest shirts, Forest pictures, trophies and teddy bears,” he said.

“It’s mad to think how the world works.”

Omobamidele made an £11m move to Forest from Championship side Norwich last September, but had to wait until January for his debut.

When it came against Blackpool in the FA Cup, he made it a dream start by scoring in the 16th minute of their third-round replay win – which was eventually decided by a Chris Wood goal in extra-time.

He has gone on to feature in nine Premier League games, starting seven, for a side battling to avoid the drop.

And while Omobamidele is a Republic of Ireland international determined to try to “give the fans what they deserve” with top-flight safety, he revealed how much his grounding as a player with small hometown side Leixlip United continues to influence him.

His former coach Kenny Molloy remains in constant contact with rising star.

“He is still heavily invested in what I do now,” Omobamidele said.

“After games he is either telling me I’ve played well or if I haven’t. The relationship we have, football related or not football related, he is there for me.”

Footage courtesy of Norwich City and FAI.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steven Hodge believes defender Murillo "will one day catch someone out" after another audacious long range effort only narrowly missed the target in Forest's 3-1 defeat against Tottenham on Sunday.

Speaking on BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up And Show More Football podcast, Hodge thinks goalkeepers will have to be aware of the centre-back's threat and willingness to shoot from range.

"As soon as he strikes it, you're looking at the flight of the ball and thinking the keeper's on the edge of the box - he's not going to get that and he wasn't," said Hodge.

"It bounced probably eight to nine yards out and just bounced a yard to the side of the upright. A yard the other way and it hits the post or goes in."

The 21-year-old, who joined the Reds from Brazilian side Corinthians in the summer, is yet to score but Hodge believes his first goal is coming.

"To strike a ball that far, he strikes the ball so sweetly that any keeper who would know him on his left foot will have half an eye thinking 'I need to be careful of this guy because he can strike it 60 yards without a problem.'

"That's twice now he's nearly scored - one day he'll do it. I guarantee one day he'll catch somebody out."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday's game between Nottingham Forest and Wolves in the Premier League.

• Nottingham Forest have won just one of their last 10 league games against Wolves (D4 L5) and are winless in all three against them in the Premier League (D2 L1).

• Wolves are unbeaten in their last five away league games against Nottingham Forest (W3 D2), since a 3-1 Championship defeat in March 2013.

• No side has lost more Premier League games in 2024 than Nottingham Forest (7), with only Burnley (8) and Sheffield United (7) earning fewer points than Forest so far this calendar year (9).

• Wolves have kept just two clean sheets in their last 32 Premier League away games, with both of those coming this season in a 1-0 win at Everton (August) and 0-0 draw at Brighton (January).

• Chris Wood has scored 12 Premier League goals for Nottingham Forest this season, only ever netting more in the 2019-20 campaign (14 with Burnley). Only against West Ham (7) has he scored more Premier League goals than he has against Wolves (6), and he scored his first ever Premier League hat-trick against them in April 2021.

• Only Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey (7) have combined for more Premier League goals this season than Nottingham Forest duo Anthony Elanga and Chris Wood (6). It’s the second most goal combinations for a Forest pair in a single Premier League campaign, after Bryan Roy and Stan Collymore in 1994-95 (7).

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Everton's deduction of six points for the three-year period to 2021-22 was for losses of £19.5m over the £105m permitted threshold, while Nottingham Forest were deducted four points for breaching the permitted £61m threshold by £34.5m for the three-year period to 2022-23.

The Toffees argued at the hearing that this is unfair and Forest had breached the threshold by significantly more - 56.6% in one reporting period - compared with their cumulative total of 34% (£36.1m) over the two reporting periods.

The independent commission says Forest's sanction was originally set at six points but two points were credited for "early admission and exceptional cooperation" with the process, which the Premier League said Everton did not do.

The commission added that the decision made in Everton's case is "broadly consistent" with the one made in the Forest case, saying Everton's punishment is "justifiably higher" because they had exceeded the threshold in two consecutive financial years.

With that in mind, the commission says it "does not regard" Everton's second points deduction to be "excessive, unfair to Everton or disproportionate" in comparison with the Forest decision.

Meanwhile, the Blues said in a statement that the club is "extremely concerned" at the "inconsistency" of the punishments, with four different commissions issuing four different points deductions this season.

Read more on the points deduction here

Pat Riddell
Fan writer

As it was in the Championship, so it is in the Premier League. Nottingham Forest rarely have a year when nothing is at stake by the business end of the season.

Whether battling relegation or fighting for promotion, it is familiar ground for Forest fans. But, evidently, it is very different this time around.

Despite a four-point deduction, Premier League safety is very much in the Reds' hands - even if the unknown variables still have a part to play.

With the club's PSR appeal expected to be heard by 12 April, and news of Everton's additional two-point deduction, the picture could be a lot clearer soon. And if Forest manage to take points off the clubs around them in their remaining fixtures then relegation can be kept at bay for another year.

'If' is doing a lot of heavy work, of course.

Nuno Espirito Santo faces his second former club in a week on Saturday, with Wolves being the first of the final three home games of the campaign.

The final three away fixtures, however, against Everton, Sheffield United and Burnley are expected to be the real crunch games.

But as always with Forest, you never really know when or where the points will come.

Pat Riddell can be found at The Famous Club, external

Former Tottenham winger Andros Townsend says officials made the right decision to not give James Maddison a red card after his incident with Nottingham Forests's Ryan Yates on Sunday, saying you need "conclusive evidence" to make a decision.

However former Premier League striker Chris Sutton says Maddison was "very lucky" to not get sent off.

Listen to the full Monday Night Club episode on BBC Sounds

We asked for your views on Sunday's Premier League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your responses:

Spurs fans

Paul: Not one of our most fluent performances as we gave Forest far too many chances, but the result is the most important thing at this stage of the season. Maddison was a little fortunate that the VAR didn’t get him sent off - he is too important for us to have him miss a few games. Great for Van de Ven and Porro, who have been superb all season.

Martin: Great opening 15 minutes but the Forest equaliser generated and exposed a mental fragility, especially in midfield. We needed half-time to resume the usual improved intensity of the second half. Only Van de Ven was excellent. Son a rare disappointment.

Jonesy: Our league position conceals the true level of our general play. We make so many misplaced passes all over the pitch and turn over possession repeatedly. Play like that against at top team and we’re going to get severely punished. I agree with the coach, top four or not is irrelevant - we need to improve the level of our performance throughout the 90.

Rog: Important win but flattering scoreline. Hate to say it but Son playing as centre-forward is a liability. Loses possession too easily and lets us get turned over. Also takes away his goal and assist threat. Werner and Johnson can create but don’t look like scoring. Desperately need a centre-forward who can hold up and finish if we are going to complete at the top.

Forest fans

Andrew: Simple key decisions not going for us yet again. A clear as day red card for Maddison at 1-1. Suspect we'll see Maddison retrospectively charged - or perhaps not as it will then mean they contradict VAR. Wood takes the chance for 2-1 and Maddison is sent off? Completely different game. Still in our hands with six to go, with Everton’s decision to come.

Doug: We seriously need to get a grip of the next six games, otherwise it’s back to the Championship. After Sunday's first-half performance, where we looked a reasonable side, the second half was a disaster. If we continue like we played in the second half then it’s goodbye Premier League. We didn’t look like we could win a raffle on that 45 minutes performance.

Greg: We showed quality on the counter-attack in the first half and it’s a shame Chris Woods missed the best chance of the game. A bit of finesse, as he did against Newcastle, would have been perfect. A goal at that stage could have changed the outcome. Yates was out of order in the Maddison punch incident. I agree with Roy Keane - stop the spoiler tactics!

Sean: That's one of those games we expected nothing from, so we weren't disappointed at least. However, we played well, were brave with chances when we could be, but unlucky as Chris wood hit the post. It could have been different. Maddison is a lucky boy. He's very talented but got away with punching Yates there. Hope he's punished.

Watch the best of the action from Tottenham v Nottingham Forest on Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer

Image source, Reuters

Luton Town are going to stay up and Nottingham Forest are "in a mess".

That is the view of ESPN's senior writer Mark Ogden after watching this weekend's Premier League fixtures unfold.

A late winner from Carlton Morris against Bournemouth on Saturday drew the Hatters level with Forest on the edge of the relegation zone with just six games to go and, despite a promising performance at Spurs on Sunday, Nuno Espirito Santo's side were defeated.

"I have backed Luton to stay up, so I think Forest will get relegated," Ogden said on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"There just seems to be a nervousness in how they are playing and in the way they approach games. It might be because they went through it last season and know how edgy it can be. They got away with last year but now there is a different vibe.

"As for Luton, this is almost a free hit with no pressure or expectancy. They have a spirit about them."

Ex-West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker agreed, praising the tenacity and mindset Luton have showed all season.

"There are no nerves and they just stick to their principles," he said. "They are getting results and believe in what they are doing.

"For Forest, the last thing they need is to keep conceding goals. They did not kill Tottenham off on Sunday either and they were punished."

Listen to more on the relegation battle from 26'05 on BBC Sounds

Mark Chapman introduces highlights and analysis from Sunday's three Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to Sunday's BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentary in full:

Manchester United v Liverpool

Sheffield United v Chelsea