Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo admitted he was “nervous as hell” watching his side’s 2-1 comeback win over Midlands rivals Aston Villa.
Following a sleepy opening half, the game burst into life after Jhon Durán found the net with a header in the 63rd minute.
Nikola Milenkovic equalised with just three minutes of normal time remaining to score his second goal in two games, before super sub Anthony Elanga scored the winner in injury time.
“I was not calm, I was nervous as hell,” Nuno told BBC Match of the Day. “I try to focus on the game and the best help I can do for the team is to ignore what is going on on the outside.
“The ending was amazing – the belief and the desire. It was very equal in the first half. It was well-organised from both teams. There weren’t too many flaws. We created problems and they did too from set-pieces. Then we had a big moment and we conceded.
“But the reaction of the players was amazing. The moment the VAR took the goal out of us, instead of it putting us down, it gave us the belief that we can go on and do it. After that, it was amazing. We were running all over the place. It was entertaining for sure but stressful also.
“It goes beyond football. It’s not football anymore. It’s about belief. It’s about bouncing back from a hard moment and go again when you are not full of energy but you have the heart.
“Thinking back to Anthony Elanga coming off the bench, it’s also about the players realise that they don’t start but they can give a hand in the right moments. As long as we can understand that, we can compete very well.”
The win sees Forest leapfrog Manchester City, who play Manchester United on Sunday, into the top four of the Premier League table.
