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Nuno Espírito Santo says he took heart from Nottingham Forest’s second half display against Aston Villa, and a free week this week will help his players recover properly ahead of next weekend’s visit of Everton.
The Reds suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at Villa Park despite creating a host of chances in the second half which could have seen Forest return to Nottingham with a share of the spoils.
Ultimately, despite Jota’s second half goal to give Nuno’s side a foothold in the game the home side claimed the points come full time, but the Forest Head Coach was happy with what he saw from his side in the second 45.
“The second half was much better than the first. We didn’t start well and conceding made the game much harder for us.
“There was a change of attitude for the second half which helped improve us.
“When we have routines, things are easier and this season we have always tried to have them which helps, but in the first half we were sloppy; lost second balls.
“In the second half we created a lot of chances, probably the most in recent matches.
“The main message at half-time was to put it right in the second half. Now we must go from where we are now against Everton. We can’t let the first half be a reference for us.
“We’ll regroup this week and go again in the next one.
“We’ve had a really tight schedule, but if you look at the second half, the boys played really well and the energy was there.
“They’ ve been working well but now we have a week to recover properly and compete against Everton.”