Nuno admits Nottingham Forest were ruthless in their demolition of Brighton | OneFootball

Nuno Espirito Santo said Nottingham Forest’s 7-0 victory over Brighton was beyond his expectations as they bounced back from last week’s heavy defeat to get their European hopes back on track.

Morgan Gibbs-White was a class above in the first period and his menacing ball into the box was inadvertently turned into his own goal by Lewis Dunk to get the rout under way.

The hosts had two more before the break, Gibbs-White turned from creator to provider to nod home Anthony Elanga’s corner before Chris Wood inevitably got himself on the scoresheet and give them a 3-0 lead at the halfway point.

Forest showed no signs of letting up after the interval, Wood scored twice in five second-half minutes for his third Premier League hat-trick and Brighton’s disconsolate afternoon was rubber stamped when Neco Williams and Jota Silva added goals late on.

It was Forest’s biggest top flight win in 34 years.

Nuno said: “We were looking for a response and our responsibility to do much better. Last week was not good enough and the response of the players was beyond our expectations.

“I’m always looking forward to what I have and I’m hoping it continues. You cannot judge whether it’s the best one or not.

“They were ruthless in their desire, they wanted to show their talent. Morgan (Gibbs-White) was good, Anthony (Elanga) amazing with three assists so overall very good all the players.”

Forest arguably put on their best performance of the season and any lasting damage from their 5-0 defeat to Bournemouth last week were totally wiped out by half-time.

“It shows desire, but we have to realise these results are not normal in the Premier League what happened last week and this week,” Nuno added.

“It becomes really difficult when you are on the other side, we felt it last week when your opponents are ruthless like we were today, so we wanted to respond.

“Fantastic day, what more can you ask? It was so different to what happened last week and what happened today. I’d rather be in the middle of it, not so high and not so low.”

Brighton suffered their heaviest league defeat since losing 9-0 to Middlesbrough back in the 1958-59 season.

Manager Fabian Hurzeler apologised to the fans and insisted everyone has to take the blame.

He said: “It’s not an easy one to take but it’s football and is part of the business to deal with these days and keep staying positive, and finding solutions and take responsibility for that result and performance.

“We have to look in the mirror and say this is not how we want to play football. We have to apologise for this result.

“When you lose 7-0 there won’t be many positives. I’m new in the Premier League, I’m sure we will find solutions, getting bad losses is part of the process. Being successful is not a comfortable journey.”