When Nuno Espírito Santo took charge of Nottingham Forest in December last year, the Reds were 17th in the Premier League. Following Saturday’s 3-0 win over West Ham United, Nuno’s side sit at the unthinkable heights of third place with a third successive victory in England’s top flight.

It is the first time Forest have won three consecutive Premier League games since 1999, making it their best sequence in a quarter of a century. However, the Portuguese coach insists the credit must go to the players as his team occupies a surprising position in the Champions League places.

Goals from Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Temitayo Aina meant Forest followed up their recent wins over Leicester City and Crystal Palace with another three points at the City Ground. Speaking to Gary Lineker on Match of the Day on Saturday night, Nuno refused to take much credit for the team’s transformation.

“It’s not me, when you play football what matters are the players,” he said. “They have been working very hard, you see the games and you see the statistics: the way we help each other; the desire to recover the ball in the right places. It’s working fine. The table no longer means anything. It’s about the next (game) and the next one is always harder.

“It was a very good day for all of us. Especially for the fans, who have been waiting a long time for these moments. We are delighted to give them this joy at the end, after what I think was a very good match.

“The game starts from (the defense),” continued the former Porto coach. “When you change your focus and think that the most important part of the game is the offense, you may become too unbalanced. That’s why we always start with the idea of ​​starting from scratch, always with the idea of ​​being solid, compact, helping each other. And then trying to create a platform and the right environment for our talented players.

“A connectivity between the team and the fans? Yes, definitely. “They have been waiting so long for this moment that we are very grateful to be able to enjoy it together.”