Nuno Espirito Santo plays down Nottingham Forest title talk ahead of Liverpool clash

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo said the suggestion his side are involved in a Premier League title race is based on "if, if, if, if" ahead of a crunch clash with Liverpool.

Forest have propelled themselves to joint second in the table after a run of six successive victories and they are being spoken about as possible title contenders.

Whether that could really happen is likely to hinge on the outcome of their match with Arne Slot's league leaders on Tuesday.

Victory at the City Ground would move them to within three points of Liverpool and firmly in the race.

But Nuno said Forest have to let their football do the talking.

"We have to play the games, we are here to compete against all the teams, I think we are doing well, nothing changes in our approach," he said.

"It’s the same, more important than anything is we know what we can do, we know each other, our strengths, our weaknesses, let’s play the game.

"If we start thinking about ifs…it’s if, if, if, if, that’s why we always try to approach how we are going to prepare ourselves, how we are going to play the game.

"At the end of the game, there will be no ifs….I’m so sorry, I apologise."

Slot was glowing about Nuno and his side in his pre-match press conference, reflecting on the reverse fixture in August where Liverpool were surprisingly beaten.

And even Nuno is surprised by the turnaround from last season where Forest stayed up on the last day of the campaign.

"When we do things good we should be pleased, but too much compliments can distract us, so we don’t want to pay too much attention," he said.

"It was the beginning of the season, maybe it was a surprise, but it was a long time ago, many things have changed.

"No one in this room could ever predict what is