Vitor Pereira calls for fighting spirit and mentality ahead of “seven more games to win”
Nottingham Forest coach Vitor Pereira does not want his players to feel remotely secure despite routing relegation rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on Sunday to claim a huge advantage in the race to stay up.
The result pushed Forest up to 16th and repositioned Tottenham directly above the abyss, with West Ham also losing to Aston Villa to ensure that Forest at the weekend fared the best of all three contenders for the drop.
Pereira instead urged his players to channel the mindset of “champions” and stay grounded for the more challenging few weeks ahead.
“When you win a game, you get confidence,” Pereira said. “When you come here [Tottenham Hotspur Stadium] and you win 3-0, a clean sheet, of course it is something important for confidence: ‘We can, we can, we can.’
“The big mistake is thinking that we came here and won and then the next game: ‘We won the [last] game.’ We have seven more games to win. We need to keep the mentality and the team spirit playing as a fighter, feeling like champions inside of us.”
Forest have often struggled for attacking verve this season but showed a clinical edge against Spurs. Pereira said overcoming that block required belief.
“We cannot create a monster in our minds because sometimes we create one chance and score a goal,” said Pereira. “It is good for belief because we need to believe in ourselves. It is not about Tottenham, about West Ham, about Leeds, it is about us. It is about what we want for next season. We are alive, we are committed and we are ready to fight.”
Midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White was overlooked by England boss Thomas Tuchel for his 35-man England squad last week. Pereira said the player’s performance against Spurs showed why that should not have been the case.
“He deserved the national team but it’s not my decision,” Pereira said. “[He is] at this moment a little bit sad and disappointed but these are the moments in our lives when we need to fight.”
