Nuno still king of the Prem disrupters

AFTER safely negotiating 29 Premier League games of low expectation, it's go-time for Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest.

- STEVE JUDGE

They have nine cup finals ahead of them to turn a season of promise into a Champions League place.

So this FA Cup quarter-final on the road was a major test of what is to come - and they passed with flying colours.

Saying that, Nuno has argued all season that his team spent the back end of last term playing high-stakes matches as they battled the threat of relegation.

That experience showed at the Amex. Nuno has turned Forest into a well-oiled machine.

There is nothing fancy about what they do. Defend when you lose the ball, play it forward as quickly as possible when you get it back.

Every player knows their role and plays it with conviction.