Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito has claimed that the uncertainty surrounding his squad’s potential permanent points deduction is affecting their performances.
Espirito’s men are already on a knife edge when it comes to safety in the Premier League.
Having played 34 of their 38 fixtures, they remain a single place and a single point ahead of the first of three relegation spots.
Luton Town’s dismal 5-1 thrashing at home by Brentford this afternoon kept Forest in the safe zone, but Espirito’s side will still have both Chelsea and Man City to negotiate in their final 5 matches pf the season.
Regardless of the schedule for their remaining games, the looming threat of their recent 4 point deduction sticking, which would almost certainly equal relegation back into the Championship hangs over Forest’s head.
Talks of an investigation into Nottingham Forest’s financial fair play competence came shortly after Everton were hit with a record 10-point deduction for similar offences.
Sean Dyche’s men currently sit themselves just a single point and a single place ahead of Forest, 16th in the Premier League standings, albeit with a game in hand on Espirito’s men.
The two sides are scheduled to face one another in the Premier League tomorrow at Goodison Park, with points crucial to both side’s futures in the English top flight.
Everton launched an appeal of their points deduction earlier this month, and it is said that Nottingham Forest are set to follow suit, with their deduction appeal set for Wednesday the 26th of April.
Nuno Espirito spoke out regarding how the uncertainty of their recent points deduction sticking is harming his squad.
He said “When you are playing the season and you get this issue things become much harder because of the uncertainty, how it disturbs the whole harmony of the squad.”
“We don’t know how many points we have because we still have an appeal. Maybe we get the four points back and everything changes.”
“This becomes a problem, because you are working with something you can’t control.
“It’s a point of distraction. It’s continuous, as every day there is something out – maybe we get the points back, maybe they take some. All these things are what causes the problem,” he added.
Both Nottingham Forest and Everton go into their fixture tomorrow uncertain of whether their respective point deductions will remain, with both sides fighting for their lives in the Premier League if they do.
