(Reuters) - Nottingham Forest have had a remarkable season so far under Nuno Espirito Santo and, with his side set to face Premier League leaders Liverpool, the manager believes the best is yet to come.
Forest, who battled relegation last term, have won their last six league games to rise to jump to third in the standings, level with second-placed Arsenal on 40 points and six behind Liverpool, but Espirito Santo expects even more.
"I see a group of players really committed to doing things well," the Portuguese coach told reporters ahead of Tuesday's home game.
"What can happen in the future? I don't know. The proof is that we did it before, we started the competition well. I think we are improving through the competition.
"I truly believe that the players, the more time that they spend together, the better they can play together, then the more they grow and the knowledge of each other will increase and improve."
While others question how long Forest's run can last, the manager is concerning himself only with certainties, whether that involves a title race, the next game or the club doing business in the January transfer window.
"If you start this thinking about ifs, it's always if, if, if, if. That's why we try to approach how we are going to prepare ourselves, then at the end of the game there will be no ifs," the manager said.
"We are in the market, that's not an if. But the transfer window in January is very difficult to operate in.
"One of the things that we are sure on is that we have a good squad. We have good options, we have healthy players, this is not an if, this is a reality."
Forest are the only side to beat Liverpool in the league this season and Espirito Santo was asked if their manager Arne Slot was playing mind games when he said on Monday that Forest are definitely one of their title rivals.
"I don't know but we try as much as possible to ignore what's around. We never change," the Forest boss said.
"It is the way we see things, the way we see the competition. I would say it is the way we see life. It's day-by-day, focus on our tasks and tomorrow is another tough one."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
