With the critical part of the season on the horizon, the Premier League chicane looming large, the last thing Nottingham Forest needed was another game to add to an already congested schedule. Forest, however, seem to have developed a habit of making life difficult for themselves and have now added an unwanted FA Cup fourth-round replay against Bristol City into the calendar.
With the potential for a points deduction for breaching financial rules a cold reality, Forest’s short-term focus is on creating as healthy a buffer as possible between them and the relegation zone. For Nuno Espírito Santo, dropping into the Championship is an unthinkable prospect, the Cup, realistically, a mild inconvenience. He recognised as much afterwards.
