Nottingham Forest have secret weapon as warning message sent ahead of Southampton test
Nottingham Forest are looking to make use of their very own spy in the camp as they look to extend their unbeaten streak when Southampton visit the City Ground this weekend.
Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with leaders Liverpool made it seven Premier League games without defeat for Nuno Espirito Santo’s Reds. They now go from taking on the team at the top of the table to the one at the bottom as they host the Saints on Sunday (2pm kick-off).
Ivan Juric is yet to register a point since taking over as Southampton boss last month but his team gave a decent account of themselves in Thursday evening’s 3-1 loss away to Manchester United. Nuno is certainly not underestimating the south coast strugglers and has been tapping up defender Ola Aina, who worked with Juric at Torino, for inside information.
“They competed very well against Manchester United, which is credit to them with the position they are in,” Nuno said of Southampton in his pre-match press conference. “We looked at the game and analyzed it.
“We have been analysing them since Juric joined. We have information on him also because Ola had a chance to work with him at Torino, so he is passing on some info.
“You can see their intensity. We expect a very tough game on Sunday.
“We don’t know what type of game it will be and how Southampton will come out. What we have to do is prepare well because they have good players.”
The Saints will present a different kind of challenge to the one Liverpool posed in midweek. However, Nuno wants Forest to approach the game in exactly the same way after highlighting just how much effort was involved against the pacesetters.
“We played good and competed very well,” Nuno reflected. “For many of them, the distance covered and intensity was higher than ever. That says we have to be careful and prepare for the next one.
“It is a totally different test for us. They are a totally different team. All games are equally challenging and difficult.
“We can see from how they played on Thursday that we are going to face a tough opponent. Nothing changes in our approach.
“It will be exactly the same approach. The difference will be in the details because they have different players and different shapes. But in our approach, absolutely nothing changes.”
