Nuno Espirito Santo says draw with Crystal Palace has given Nottingham Forest more confidence in race for Champions League qualification | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo admits that it is “difficult” to pinpoint what has contributed to his side’s drop in form in the past few weeks.

Less than a month ago, Forest had the advantage over their rivals in the race for Champions League football, but recent performances have seen them fall out of the top five.

The Reds have lost three out of their last five matches, with only two wins since the start of April, coming against Manchester United and Spurs.

When asked what has contributed to the poor form, Nuno responded: “It’s so difficult. Because you can always see the things that you’ve been doing in the next match. I think we improved in the game against Palace, and now we require improvement for Leicester.”

Forest battled hard to earn a point at Selhurst Park on Monday night, with Murillo netting the crucial equaliser to cancel out Eberechi Eze’s penalty and salvage a point on the road.

Reflecting on the game, Nuno said: “I think we’ve been able to perform much better than in the previous game. That was the main concern, that we had to try and perform well as a team. I think parts of the game we did well. So it’s confidence for the next one.”

Forest welcome Leicester to the City Ground on Sunday afternoon, hoping that an east midlands derby will reignite a spark that can be used for momentum to push them through until the end of the season.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side have struggled to pick up points away from home, but they will be hoping that a shock win in one of their final games in the Premier League could place a huge dent in their rival’s European hopes.

“It’s a difficult game because Leicester, no matter what the season was, hav talented players in their squad. This is what is important for us to focus on,” Espírito Santo said.

“Leicester has quality players. The season happens to many teams, but the quality and the talent of the squad are there.”

Despite the slump that Forest have found themselves in, goalkeeper Matz Sels is still leading the race for the Golden Glove this season with 13 clean sheets.

However, Nuno believes that should he win the award at the end of the month, it reflects more than his impact alone, but the whole defensive cohort.

He said: “I think it’s an award that reflects the good defensive work of the team. Not only on Matz. It’s been remarkable what Matz has been doing. But overall, it’s a recognition of a good defensive organisation that we have and we have to stick with until the end of the season.”