Nuno reveals his ‘big admiration’ for Man Utd star as he warns Nottm Forest about ‘big player’
New Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has warned his players to be wary of Bruno Fernandes as he attempts to earn another statement win.
Forest will welcome Manchester United to the City Ground on Saturday hoping to repeat the level of performance which secured a hugely impressive 3-1 Premier League win – the first of Santo’s reign in his second match in charge – at Newcastle United on Boxing Day.
However, having returned from Tyneside to watch fellow Portuguese Fernandes help Man Utd to a 3-2 comeback win over high-flying Aston Villa the same evening, Santo knows that is easier said than done.
He told his pre-match press conference: “It’s a big club with fantastic players. We know it’s going to be hard – we saw what they did against Villa, how they came back from behind and were able to change the game, so we expect a very, very difficult game.
“Bruno Fernandes, who’s Portuguese, I have a big admiration for him, a big player, so we have to take care of all these details inside the Manchester United team, the wingers, all of them are so good.
“But we are at the City Ground and coming back also from a good game, so what we want is to compete well and give it a go.”
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Forest themselves showed great resilience to win at St James’ Park after falling behind to Alexander Isak’s first-half penalty, securing the points with a rare hat-trick from former Magpies striker Chris Wood.
The New Zealand international benefited from the efforts of wide-men Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi, with skipper Morgan Gibbs-White pulling the strings behind them, and Espirito Santo is hoping for a similar approach against the Red Devils.
He said: “We have to compete very well, we have to improve defensively, especially defending our own box. We have done well, but we have to be very, very, very careful because they have threats all over the pitch.
“But at the same time, it’s not only about that. We have to be more positive, we have to go for the game. We saw that in the second half at St James’ Park. Now we are going to be at the City Ground and our priority is to be ourselves. Let’s try.”
Meanwhile, Forest have confirmed Espirito Santo’s staff with Rui Pedro Silva and Julio Figueroa having been appointed as assistant coaches with Rui Barbosa and Antonio Dias joining the club as goalkeeper coach and fitness coach respectively.
