Nottingham Forest ‘opportunity’ set out as FA Cup team selection hint dropped
Latest Nottingham Forest news as Nuno Espirito Santo’s Reds prepare to face Ipswich Town in fifth round of the FA Cup
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has indicated he will once again make changes to his Nottingham Forest starting XI for next week’s FA Cup tie.
The Reds host Ipswich Town in the fifth round on Monday night (7.30pm kick-off). They do so knowing they are just two wins away from a Wembley semi-final.
In each of the previous two rounds Nuno shuffled his line-up and left out some of his big-hitters such as Chris Wood, Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson. In doing so, he made clear he wasn’t resting those players but was instead rewarding others who had seen little by way of game time.
It seems likely he will go down the same route for the clash with the Tractor Boys. However, Nuno has stressed there will be no change in terms of Forest’s approach to the game.
“I think it is a good opportunity for some players and also because of the schedule,” he said. “Let’s assess and try to make a good decision for the game.
“We have players to assess. Wednesday night (against Arsenal in the Premier League) was a very intense game with a lot of contacts. We are assessing the players to see how they are.
“If you establish this kind of routine, there is no difference. This is better for us. That’s why I believe the approach of game by game is the best one.”
Given they are third in the Premier League table and their opponents are in the relegation zone, many pundits will no doubt have the Reds down as favourites to progress. But Nuno does not see it that way, particularly in the FA Cup.
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That is not the way we look at it. We have to play the game,” he said. “There’s no favourites in a football match – just two teams against each other in a fair way.
“It will be a tough game. They are a good team. We looked back at the fixture we had against them here in the Premier League (a 1-0 win) and how hard it was.
“We have been looking at them. As a team they have energy, they are intense and they have good players. The expectation is it will be a very tough match.”
