Nottingham Forest face D-Day over possible points deduction for breaching Premier League spending limits… as Nuno Espirito Santo insists his team will battle on despite late Luton blow
Nottingham Forest are expected to learn on Monday whether they will receive a points deduction for exceeding spending limits.
Since returning to the Premier League, 42 players have come to the City Ground for more than £250million, with more hits than misses – and it’s a policy that has landed them in hot water when they were accused of breaching profit-making rules and sustainability rules in January.
Mention the names of Giulian Biancone, Omar Richards or Hwang Ui-jo and most fans will look at you quizzically, but these are evidence of Forest’s costly transfer mistakes.
The Premier League’s verdict comes now, in the final twist of a season tainted by uncertainty, one that is likely to be decided as much by what happens off the pitch as on it.
How crucial Luke Berry’s final equalizer on Saturday was in the battle for survival will become clear in time, but it felt like a huge moment for Luton.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest will find out today whether they will be docked points
There was frustration at Forest as Luke Berry scored a late equalizer for Luton on Saturday
Regardless of Monday’s outcome, Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo vowed that his party would fight on.
“I’m disappointed because I think we did enough to get three points,” he said. ‘Let’s wait for the decision.
“No matter what happens, we’ll keep going and fighting. Still nine games to go, we still have nine finals.’
In more positive news for Forest, Chris Wood’s £15 million signing from Newcastle looked like one of those costly mistakes after three goals in his first 19 games.
But since Nuno arrived in December, Wood has been reborn to take his seventh place in 10 games at Luton, underlining his status as Forest’s unlikely hero of the season.
With uncertainty over the points deduction for their rivals and the prospect of appeals dragging on beyond the end of the season, Luton boss Rob Edwards admitted he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with everything.
Chris Wood is a reborn player under Nuno and scored his seventh goal in ten games
“It’s quite chaotic and new for all of us,” he said. “There have been a lot of first experiences this season that we have to deal with.
“Maybe if something happens I can talk more about it, but not yet because you’re kind of speculating.”