When I spent a few days with Nottingham Forest in Spain at the end of pre-season, I knew they would be third in the table at the turn of the year.

Okay, maybe not.

But what I have to say is that it was pretty clear that the atmosphere in his team was buzzing after a full summer under Nuno Espirito Santo and they seemed to be growing closer together than ever before.

It’s easy to forget, but Nuno spent most of last season dealing with relegation battles, a points deduction and a bloated squad – but Forest are now benefiting from what he describes as an obsession with improving in all areas of the game.

When we sat down with the 50-year-old, it was clear how caring he feels towards this group. In this exclusive interview, he makes it clear to the group that he and the club decided to stick together because they believed in the players’ potential.

Before taking on his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers Monday night football, Espirito Santo told Sky Sports that he is enjoying his return to Molineux.

“Of course, of course. We spent four years there. It was beautiful. I think we will cherish our memories forever. The coaching staff, the players, Morgan (Gibbs-White) is coming back. It’s quite nice.”

Forest, the Premier League’s surprise package this season, will be looking for a sixth win in a row. On Friday, Nuno said there had been little time to reflect on his side’s eye-catching first half of the season.

He believes Forest’s success this term is based on adhering to the principles set out in the 2023/24 campaign.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

“You start with routines, and when you reach routines, they become habits. And when you have habits on the field and play without even knowing your teammates are going to be in certain positions, sometimes that doesn’t happen.”

“When it happens, it clicks. It flows.”

So how can he ignore the growing noise surrounding his Champions League contenders?

“We have stuck with the same message since day one,” says Espirito Santo. “That’s what we’re obsessed with. That’s the way we work and the way we believe we should do things – focus on one game at a time.”

“Focus on the training session for the day. Try to watch all the drills, improve the players’ performance and results, it helps.”

“But there is no distraction because we don’t change. That’s how we approach the competition.”

Espirito Santo admits keeping Forest in the Premier League top four will be harder for him than getting them there.

Forest have far exceeded expectations this season after securing top flight safety with a 2-1 win at Burnley on the final day of the 2023/24 season. So does Nuno believe his side can continue their remarkable rise up the table?

“I am very satisfied, very pleased, proud, happy,” he says when asked to reflect on his first twelve months or so in charge.

“I know that not many teams can claim that they have a healthy squad. We were able to keep the core of the squad from last season. We had a difficult moment, but it was crucial that we decided together that we would leave with a good squad.

“We will believe in it and do it again and improve what we need to improve. We’re halfway there, but we’re proud of what we’ve done. Now comes the big challenge.”

“Can we do it again?” Will we face the same opponents? Can we compete against these tough opponents again and again… in the same way we did in the first round.”

Nuno’s side said goodbye to 2024 with a fifth successive win. Sunday’s 2-0 win at Everton ensured they started the new year in third place.

Forest’s current winning streak is the longest in the Premier League since the 1994/95 season, when they finished third behind champions Blackburn and Manchester United under former manager Frank Clark.

After Monday’s trip to Molineux, Forest play three home games in a row against Luton, in the FA Cup, against Liverpool and Southampton.

Any temporary positive result or performance would seem to be an affront to pre-season predictions that the team would struggle again, but Nuno dismissed that theory.

“It’s not about proving people wrong, it’s not about that,” he emphasizes.

“It’s about improvement, about self-respect, about connecting with teammates. It’s about doing the job together, not individually.”

“How can I make things better if I do things right?” That’s what drives us, that’s what moves us. We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. We have to prove to ourselves that we want to do it, we want to compete and play football in a good way.

“In a way that our fans are happy after the game. In a way that we can go back to our families and feel like we’ve done well. We go back there with the same motivation, no matter what result we had before.”

“But we go into next week with the same goal, with the same idea of ​​competing again. That’s the most important thing.”

This will be the fourth coaching meeting between Portuguese duo Vitor Pereira and Espirito Santo.

The last three meetings of the 2012-13 season were all between Rio Ave and Porto, with Pereira remaining undefeated in these games and winning twice.

But Espirito Santo is unbeaten in four managerial meetings against Wolves since leaving Molineux and has drawn both games as Forest boss at the City Ground.

His only Premier League return to his old ground in August 2021 resulted in a narrow win during his short spell as Tottenham manager.

Given Forest’s excellent away record this season, fans making the short trip across the Midlands can be assured of a further three points thanks to the team spirit fostered by Espirito Santo.

“That’s the foundation,” says the forestry chief with a smile. “That is the basis of everything. Everything I told you before… without this bond it’s impossible.

“If you don’t have a strong bond among your colleagues, how can you go back after a bad moment with the same motivation, look on your shoulder and say: let’s do it again. That’s the foundation.”

“I think we are building a good team, but there are still a lot of things that can make us stronger and stronger every day in terms of bonding.”

“We in the squad… when I say coaching staff, players, the staff that work on the training ground, everyone. Then the fans, and we are improving there too. I think the fans believe us more.”

“They trust us. They know we will keep up and that is what we can promise them. We will keep up.”

We see a certain side of Nuno in his press conferences and on the sidelines at games, but what is becoming increasingly clear to me is that there is another side to him that has created a special bond between this group of players and the man Charge .

Given their current defensive prowess and lethal attack, why can’t they seriously hope for a Champions League spot?

After all, they won’t have to struggle with European football like many others.

Watch Wolves v Nottingham Forest on Monday Night Football, kick-off 8pm