Nottingham Forest news: Can Reds hit Champions League points tally?

During Nottingham Forest’s 23 years in the wilderness — apologies to the English Football League — statistics didn’t mean a lot. The Reds either had enough points to avoid relegation or enough points to get into the play-offs.

The first two years back in the Premier League, and even early into this season, simply drew comparisons with Forest’s meagre showing back in the 1990s. Not any more. All previous records of note have been swept aside.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have been writing their own history this campaign. Saturday’s 4-2 win over Ipswich Town was Forest’s eighth away victory this season, a tally only bettered by Liverpool.

Beating Brighton & Hove Albion 7-0 last month was our biggest win since 1991 — before the Premier League came into being. Chris Wood’s hat-trick that day was the first by a Forest player at the City Ground in the top flight since 1987.

Consecutive wins? The six back-to-back victories were the most in a single season since 1967. Clean sheets? Matz Sels has 12, more than any other goalkeeper in the league. Scored first? Forest have taken the lead 22 times, more than any other club, and very rarely lose from that position.

The manager’s 50th game in charge saw us move five points clear of Chelsea and six points clear of Manchester City. And that’s all before an FA Cup quarter-final — don’t forget that Forest had never played at the ‘new’ Wembley until the Championship play-off final in 2022

Forest finished third back in 1995, qualifying for the Uefa Cup, when only the champions Blackburn Rovers joined Europe’s elite competition. The promise of Champions League football remains very real, with a fifth place qualification spot almost in the bag for the Premier League. There are still nine games to go — “a lot of football to be played yet,” as Nuno said – but the Reds have been in the top five since early December despite a sticky patch in recent weeks. How many more points do the Reds need to go the distance?

Find more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club