Vítor Pereira wants his Nottingham Forest players to carry the feeling of “champions” after triumphing 3-0 at Tottenham but warned his squad victory does not ensure their Premier League status. The Forest head coach said his players should take confidence from damaging a direct rival’s hopes of staying up but stressed they must avoid complacency.
Tottenham’s assistant coach, Bruno Saltor, acknowledged his players cracked under the “weight of the game”. Saltor was on post-match duties after their head coach, Igor Tudor, was informed of a family bereavement after the defeat. With three weeks until Tottenham – who are now the only Premier League side without a victory this calendar year – travel to Sunderland for their next league game, Tudor’s future is in serious jeopardy.
“When you win a game, you get confidence,” Pereira said. “When you come here and you win 3-0, a clean sheet, of course it is something important for confidence. ‘We can, we can, we can.’ The big mistake is thinking that we came here and won and then the next game: ‘We won the [last] game.’ We have seven more games to win. We need to keep the mentality and the team spirit playing as a fighter, feeling like champions inside of us.”
Forest have struggled for goals this season, particularly at home, but had no such problem in north London. “We cannot create a monster in our minds because sometimes we create one chance and score a goal. It is good for belief because we need to believe in ourselves. It is not about Tottenham, about West Ham, about Leeds, it is about us. It is about what we want for next season. We are alive, we are committed and we are ready to fight.”
Saltor acknowledged Spurs faded in the second half. The Spaniard insisted the Spurs coaching staff believe they will be afforded the opportunity to turn things around, adding: “We feel the support from everyone at the club and we’re just focusing on how we can help players. A lot of players are leaving for the internationals and as soon as they get back, get back on the train, we will get everyone up to speed and prepare for the next game.”
Pereira said Gibbs-White’s performance showed why Thomas Tuchel should not have overlooked the midfielder for his 35-man England squad last week. “He deserved the national team but it’s not my decision,” Pereira said. “[He is] at this moment a little bit sad and disappointed but these are the moments in our lives when we need to fight.”
Gibbs-White, who scored Forest’s second goal and was the subject of serious interest from Tottenham last summer, said: “It’s an absolutely huge result. There was a lot of worry going into this game and about the [potential] outcome. But the boys were incredible and we defended with our lives today. I am delighted because the win creates some gap now.”
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