Second-placed Forest have achieved nothing yet, warns Nuno

Nottingham Forest managerNuno Espirito Santo insisted his side have not achieved anything yet despite moving up to second in the Premier League with their win over Everton.

Forest earned their first top-flight win over Everton since 1999with a 2-0 victory at Goodison Park, with goals in either half fromChris Wood andMorgan Gibbs-White sealing the triumph.

Theyhave now won each of their last five Premier League matches, their longest winning run in the competition since a run of five between March and April 1995.

Nuno’s side continue to exceedexpectations this term, having already surpassed their entire season points total from the 2023-24 campaign after just 19 games.

But the Forest boss was keen to temper anyChampions League qualification expectations, warning his players there is work to do despite momentarily leapfrogging Chelsea and Arsenal in the standings.

"We are competing really well, especially in this game. It wasvery tough and both teams had a very short period of rest," Nuno told BBC MOTD.

"We were organised and really committed to help each other. We then exploited the space well that Everton gave us.

"We had to make a change [to our line-up] just before the game. It was a moment to reset, reorganise and try a different thing. The players understood it well.

"It is confidence, the belief and the knowledge that in the final third you need composure. They scored beautiful goals.

"But it doesn’t mean anything. We haven’t achieved anything yet."

Goalscorer Wood echoed the thoughts of his manager after the New Zealand internationalnetted his 11th Premier League goal of the season on Sunday.

Hehas now scored 22 top-flightgoals under Nuno, the joint most by aForest player under a manager, along with Stan Collymore for Frank Clark (22 in 37 games).

"It is nice [to be second], but we are not worried about that. We have got to keep focusing on what we are doing and take it game by game," Wood told BBC Radio 5 Live.

For Everton and Sean Dyche, however, their four-game unbeaten run came to an end, dropping them to 16th in the table butstill threepoints clear of the bottom three.

The Toffeesregistered just 132 shots on target and scored 31 goals in the Premier League in 2024, the fewest of any ever-present club this calendar year, whileonly Wolves (39.7) accumulated lower expected goals (xG) than Everton(41.8) amongthose sides.

Everton are alsonow winless in their final Premier League match of the year in each of the last four years (D2 L2).

Dyche bemoaned his side’s inability to break down Forest’s compact defence, despite having managed to shut out Arsenal and Chelsea in recent weeks.

"We didn’t deliver it anywhere near in the first half, and they did," Dyche said.

"They have done that to other teams this season.It is hard to break down a packed defence when they get their noses in front.

"I don’t think they had too many chances, but apacked defence is hard to break down. We didn’t ask enough questions overall against a team that is good at seeing a game out."