Nuno Espirito Santo: ‘We feel the history’ at Nottingham Forest ahead of FA Cup semi-final

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Nuno Espirito Santo hopes to add to Nottingham Forest’s proud history by leading the club to their first FA Cup final since 1991.

When Forest face Manchester City at Wembley in the semi-final on Sunday, Nuno says he will be motivated by the desire to add to the list of past achievements which are displayed around the City Ground.

Forest won the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959 but the last domestic trophy they lifted was the Zenith Data Systems Cup in 1992. Brian Clough famously led Forest to the Division One title in 1978, before following up by securing back-to-back European Cup successes in 1979 and 1980.

And Nuno says he is inspired by such moments — and by the possibility of adding some new achievements to the list of honours.

“We feel the history. There are already coaches outside. We are 48 hours away and already people are preparing for Wembley. The city feels it,” said Nuno in his pre-match press conference.

“It’s an honour to be at this club and to see all the achievements from before written around the stadium. And at the same time dreaming of it and thinking if we can repeat it. To put something in the stadium that we achieved would be huge.

“We must be honoured to be at Forest. There are two stars (in honour of the European Cup wins) behind us on these chairs I am sitting on. It’s prestigious.

“We have a chance but first of all we have to win a very hard match against one of the best teams. We are going to compete. Then we will think about the rest.”

Forest last reached the final 34 years ago, where they were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

While Nuno would relish leading Forest to FA Cup glory, he says every bit of their focus must be on Sunday’s opponents Manchester City — and on retaining the mentality that has carried them this far, during a season that also sees the club challenging for Champions League qualification, as they sit in fourth place in the Premier League.

“We should not change. All the noise that is around us, it is normal. It can only make us stronger. But we approach it as a game, as a match. It will be hard, but we have to commit and stick to our task,” said Nuno. “If we start looking at anything else, it is a big mistake. We have to focus on our opponents.

“We have to focus on what has got us this far. They have fantastic players. We must realise that they are coming back, getting stronger, getting better. They have a fantastic manager. This is what is on our minds.”

Forest have beaten Luton Town, Exeter City, Ipswich Town and Brighton & Hove Albion to progress this far, with the last three rounds all having been settled via penalty shootout.

Nuno would watch FA Cup finals on television when he was growing up in Portugal and he says he would take pride in leading Forest out in a Wembley final himself.

“The FA Cup deserves to be respected. It’s the oldest competition in the world, the most prestigious one. You cannot ignore it,” he said.

(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

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