Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo declared himself ‘really, really happy’ after his side’s on-penalties FA Cup fifth round defeat of the Blues at the City Ground, which secured the Premier League’s third-placed side a quarter-final tie at Brighton.

Following a game which swung one way and then the other before ending 1-1 in 90 minutes and after extra-time, Jack Taylor was the unlucky man whose spot-kick was saved by Matz Sels as the shootout finished 5-4 to the home side.

“I’m happy. I’m really, really happy,” Nuno said afterwards. “We have so many hopes and in the FA Cup we want to go as far as we can. On penalties, the emotions are always high. I’m delighted.

“It’s a good moment. It’s important for the club to give it a good go. Now we have to focus on the Premier League but the FA Cup is always going to be on our mind. Brighton is going to be a tough game, but let’s give it a really good go.”

Regarding Sels’s stop from Taylor, he added: “It was huge for us. Even before that, the players did their job quite well in terms of taking the penalties. They were good penalties. Matz was amazing for us. Good!”

However, the Portuguese admitted the shootout was a tough watch: “It is not nice. It is not nice at all. It’s anxiety, nervous, mix of emotions. I try not to watch and just wait for the noise.”

Quizzed on his message to his players before the start of extra-time, he said: “Try to win the game. In terms of the game, both teams were really organised in the first half and it was flat.

“We started the second half really good. With all my respects, the goal goes against the flow of the game. We were in control, we were creating and were dominant.

“We conceded from a set piece but the reaction was really positive. From thereon, in our minds we were trying to solve the game. Because we could see we were in control, being dominant and creating chances, the main message was to try to go for the game.”

Nuno had praise for the home support: “We proceed in our journey together. The fans gave us a huge help today, making the noise during the penalty shootout. It is not easy for Ipswich to take them and retain their focus with this noise. We are delighted for them.”

One of the more notable aspects of the celebrations following the shootout was Nuno giving right-back Ola Aina a piggyback.

“He said he was so tired, so I said ‘jump on’,” the one-time Wolves boss smiled. “He said he was so tired he couldn’t run.

“Both teams were really exhausted in the end. It’s not easy to go overtime at this stage of the season, but winning helps with the recovery. The legs will get better sooner.”

TWTD

johnwarksshorts added 15:35 - Mar 4 Like him alot as Manager.
3

armchaircritic59 added 17:54 - Mar 4 Yes very likeable guy, has been badly treated at some other clubs.
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