Evangelos Marinakis ‘proud’ of Forest manager Nuno despite pitch confrontation | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis insists he is “proud” of Nuno Espirito Santo despite storming onto the pitch to confront the manager after watching his side fumble Champions League qualification.

Marinakis was seen emotionally remonstrating with Nuno after Facundo Buonanotte’s 81st-minute strike earned Leicester a 2-2 Premier League draw at the City Ground, inflicting a damaging blow to Forest’s hopes of finishing in the top five.

They were unsavoury scenes, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville saying the Portuguese should “negotiate his exit tonight”.

However, both Marinakis and Nuno say the Greek owner’s frustrations came because of a miscommunication between the bench and medical staff after an injury to striker Taiwo Awoniyi in the dying stages of the match.

Although Champions League qualification is now out of their hands, they have at least guaranteed European football for the first time since 1996 as they will be heading into the Europa Conference League at the very least.

Marinakis said in a statement: “Today is a day for celebration, because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again, a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion!

“With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game.

“We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.

“Everybody – coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself – we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgment on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.

“This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club.

“Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming!”

Nuno laughed off Neville’s suggestions that he should quit and insisted Marinakis’ passion was the reason Forest are now challenging for Champions League football.

He said: “It is because of the owner and his passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to be better,” he said of Marinakis, who served a five-match stadium ban earlier this season.

“It is his passion and desire to be a big club – 30,000 people felt the same today. For sure, many of them would go on the pitch and shake us down.

“Us as a club, we owe a lot to the Marinakis family.

“I am not going to comment too much. I have huge respect for Gary Neville, he is the coach who replaced me when I was sacked at Valencia. So he was a coach himself.

“He knows what it is like to be on the touchline. All the rest, please allow me…I do not want to proceed about (talk of) the future.”

Asked whether he was comfortable being spoken to in such a way in a public arena, Nuno added: “I have been in football so many years as a player and as a coach.

“It is the passion and desire. The players feel it, we feel it and the fans feel it. We have to do better.”

Chris Wood’s 20th goal of the season had put Forest on course to beat their East Midlands rivals, after Morgan Gibbs-White earlier cancelled out Conor Coady’s opener.

But Buonanotte’s late strike means they are no longer in charge of their own destiny. Winning their final two games, including a final-day meeting with Chelsea, might not be enough to secure Champions League football unless Aston Villa, Manchester City or Newcastle drop points along the way.

Despite an upturn in performances since relegation was confirmed, boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is no closer to knowing whether he will be in charge of Leicester next season.

“No, for me it’s important that I connect with the players and vice-versa, that they are buying into the way of playing and performing as good as we can towards the end of the season,” he said.

“It’s from day-to-day and game-to-game. I spoke about initiative months and months ago in conversations with the ownership and leadership at the club.

“Now for weeks I don’t have news and my focus is on the next training session and the next game.

“In the interests of the club, it’s very important and the sooner the better, I said that as well.”