Nottingham Forest defeat West Ham United 2-1 to set up final day showdown

A long and hard Premier League season has taken its physical and mental toll on Nottingham Forest, but a gritty 2-1 victory against West Ham United proves there’s plenty of fight left with one game to play. George Edwards was at the match

Everything and more. That’s been the motto of this season — every soul invested in Nottingham Forest, never relenting and fighting until the very end to achieve their success.

Question marks were rightly raised pre-match as to whether that fight had flickered out on the back of recent below-par displays, Forest looking physically shot and mentally drained. But they were determined to round off this impeccable away season with a display worthy of a side destined for European football, in honour of their fallen friend.

Taiwo Awoniyi’s recovery status offered optimism and reassurance, a win and performance dedicated to their Nigerian warrior showing the band of brothers Forest have become.

Alongside doing it for Taiwo, they were fighting for themselves, for their own reputations and to ensure this historic season doesn’t fizzle out. Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic are two of many that don’t currently seem fully fit, but there is nothing that will stop them putting their bodies on the line and battling until the very last.

By no means are Forest the finished article. They have their flaws and their limitations, but they refuse to be silenced, to be written off, and give everything for the badge and to the task in hand.

That’s what’s got them so far this season. One of the newest and certainly smallest squads in the Premier League, it’s their mental strength that has propelled them so high, achieving their 10th away win of the season in victory.

In their first two seasons, an away goal was something to shout about, so to win over half of their games on the road shows the stark improvement this season; the second-best away record in the league.

Victories at Anfield and Old Trafford will be cherished, but the small wins also felt so huge. Beating Brentford to end their home unbeaten run. Felling Everton to go second in the Premier League. Dismantling the three promoted sides to show the real distance between Forest in their current state and where they were upon promotion.

In true Forest style, they didn’t make their final away win over easy, letting a somewhat comfortable two-goal lead against West Ham be halved, leading to 17 minutes of nail-biting and agonising injury time, poorly caused and managed by referee Sam Barrott.

By the end, victory was merited, Forest taking their chances clinically and defending like dogs to see the result out, Matz Sels doing everything he could between the sticks to keep the scores down.

He is the one who has never dipped. Selected 37/37 times, oozing confidence and class with every minute played and making vital saves every week — just one clean sheet from the golden glove.

From the off he was ready, making his first sharp save after 30 seconds from Tomas Soucek and his last in the 112th minute to deny Niclas Fullkrug. Between those saves, Forest maintained relative control over the Hammers without dominating, aided by scoring first for the first time since that win at Spurs.

A gift wrapped up and politely handed by Alphonse Areola, gobbled up by the expertly anticipating Morgan Gibbs-White gave Forest the edge, reaffirming his undeniable commitment to Nottingham Forest despite swirling rumours about his future.

During the week, Forest’s skipper was nominated for Premier League player of the season, somewhat surprisingly for Forest supporters given the consistency of Matz Sels and Nikola Milenkovic. But for those watching from afar, he is the star, involved in every bit of positive attacking play, playing almost every second and leading from the front with the armband.

He won’t win Mo Salah’s award, but he has silenced the critics and proved exactly why he is being touted with moves away, his third goal involvement in two games.

Behind him, Ibrahim Sangaré continued his patch of good form — his story of rising from being written off and making a name for himself, a story that can be told of the club as a whole — testament to Nuno’s ability to ensure every player is bought into the process.

The depth in midfield Forest have displayed isn’t perhaps mirrored across the park, with Nuno’s subs showing Forest’s weaknesses in certain areas. For starters, Forest operated once again with one out-and-out winger, as Callum Hudson-Odoi returned but only to the bench.

Towards the end, Murillo, Milenkovic, Ola Aina and Chris Wood all looked spent but given their importance, they simply had to stay on – Nuno’s introduction of Morato failing to shore things up as they conceded just three minutes later.

Their lack of depth, their tiredness and their stature all suggest that Forest should be nowhere near the race for European football, let alone the Champions League. However, the win keeps them well within the race, seventh but just a point off third, with all three European competitions still a potential destination.

It all comes down to the finale. Chelsea come to town, aware that a win will secure them a spot in the top five, but as their display against West Ham proved, Forest aren’t done fighting yet. They will be ready to show their best side, knowing that victory will secure the Europa League, and maybe something even better.

Things never come easy to this football club and it always goes down to the wire, and while I’ve used this Cloughie quote on occasion before, now seems like no better time to say, “I hope nobody’s stupid enough to write us off.”