Before extra time, Nuno informed the Nottingham Forest players that the cup victory raised transfer concerns.

Following an exciting FA Cup replay, Nottingham Forest crossed the Bloomfield Road field to salute the away end when the final whistle blew.

They cheered the 1700-strong Reds fan base that had braved below-freezing weather and a long Wednesday night away trip to the west coast. And just as they had earlier in the evening after taking the lead, they raised a shirt in support of their grieving teammate Cheikhou Kouyate once more. This was a message for the midfield player who lost his father while competing in the Africa Cup of Nations.

As Forest prepared to play Blackpool, off-field issues had taken center stage in the media, but head coach Nuno Espirito Santo had promised his team that they would not be a distraction. In addition, there was a strong sense of unity on show, as well as tenacity and resolve to get through a difficult third-round tie that needed overtime. By no means did the Reds make things easy for themselves.

Reds’ tenacity
Nuno’s message was evident as his squad had to wait an extra half hour to conclude the third round match. The hosts might have easily gained momentum after coming back from a two-goal deficit to force extra time.

After Andrew Omobamidele’s opening goal, Danilo’s goal should have guaranteed the visitors a spot in the fourth round. However, some shoddy defense cost them.

Nuno instructed his team to start again by putting the past behind them as they regrouped. Although Forest had been careless in allowing Blackpool to rejoin the game, they shown courage to prevent the Seasiders from totally upending the rules.

Nuno stated, “The message was clear—let’s start over and forget about the 90 minutes. It’s a new game.” The message said, “This is a 30-minute game that we have to solve.

The boys stuck with it and won the battle. Once Blackpool returned, things became difficult. Not to take anything away from Blackpool, but we were superior to them in extra time.

Nuno, who had previously complained about needing to play one more game, was probably not too happy about his men having to endure a further thirty minutes on a challenging field. Still, the Reds persisted. Up to the very end, the players never let up, with Ryan Yates setting the way in addition to contributing two assists.