Nuno Espirito Santo says Nottingham Forest run-in ‘biggest games of our careers’ | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says the remaining five games of his side’s Premier League campaign are the “biggest of our careers”.

Forest are reaching the climax of an impressive season where they have been the surprise package at the top end of the table.

They are within touching distance of Champions League qualification and know they will be playing in Europe’s premier competition next season if they win their remaining games.

The first of those is against Brentford at the City Ground on Thursday night, as Forest play their game in hand from the weekend when they were in FA Cup semi-final action, losing to Manchester City.

“All the games are going to be very, very important for a lot of teams in this fight, we have one  more, let’s try to perform well,” the Portuguese said.

“We are back in the City Ground in front of our fans, it’s a big help.

“We have never stopped believing, no matter what happens. Throughout the competition, we have had good moments and bad moments and we have been able to react and again it is up to us to react again.

“All the games are the biggest games of our career, this is how we approach it.

“We are only thinking about Brentford now, that is the only think we have to consider now in our minds, is to compete against them.

“It’s in our hands, that’s a big advantage.”

Forest welcome back Neco Williams and Ryan Yates after they were suspended at Wembley, while Nuno says he is still assessing his squad and was coy on Ola Aina’s fitness.

“There are a lot of players to assess, it was a very demanding game, a lot of players finished with cramp, so we will see,” the Portuguese said.

On Aina, he added: “We still have one more day, assessing all the players, trying to make the decisions.”

“All the players who have been out are important to us. We have spoken many times about that.

“We have been missing Ola, especially because of the stability of the back four we had and the routines.

“I don’t know how many times we had the same players – that’s crucial, especially in defence. We will assess him and see how fast he can return to the team.”