Nuno not getting carried away as Forest strengthen grip on Champions League spot
Nuno Espirito Santo labelled Morgan Gibbs-White a ‘huge talent’ after he grabbed an assist following his England snub.
Nuno Espirito Santo warned Nottingham Forest there is a long way to go after a 4-2 win at Ipswich opened up a six-point gap to Manchester City in the race for Champions League qualification.
Third-placed Forest had boosted their unexpected top-four charge with a late victory over City last Saturday and followed it up with a comprehensive display in Suffolk where three goals in six first-half minutes settled the contest.
After Nikola Milenkovic broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, Anthony Elanga twice punished slack Town defending before Jota Silva added a fourth late on.
“You know what I think about the table,” Nuno said.
“What we have is to focus on ourselves, focus on ourselves. Work as much as we can because there is a lot of football to be played yet.
“There is a good spell in the first half that really changed the game for six minutes.
Ipswich had arguably been the better side until they gifted away a corner kick and while they dealt with the initial delivery, Liam Delap’s miscued clearance allowed Milenkovic to fire into the roof of the net after 35 minutes.
Two minutes later it was 2-0 after Elliot Anderson found Elanga, who raced away down the right before he curled home with his left foot.
Elanga doubled his tally in the 41st minute when he latched onto Milenkovic’s lofted pass and scored in simple fashion.
The decision of new England boss Thomas Tuchel to leave out Gibbs-White along with Anderson and Callum Hudson-Odoi raised eyebrows, but Nuno told the trio to not lose focus.
Nuno added: “A huge talent. Morgan has so much talent, so much.
“What they have to do is what they did today. Work, play good.
“What they have to do is stay focused, stay humble and for sure Thomas Tuchel will look at our players and take them because they have talent. They are talented players and can help England.”
Ipswich’s eighth league defeat from their last nine matches was compounded by Wolves’ win at Southampton.
“A very disappointing day,” Town boss Kieran McKenna said.
“Three really bad goals from our point of view, especially the first and the third goals in a six-minute spell that turns a stable game, an even game into an impossible task at 3-0 down at half-time.
“It took away the opportunity for us to compete in the game and try to get a result.”
