Nuno Espirito Santo responds to FA investigation after 'unacceptable' incident

Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed he will be in the dugout for Saturday’s home Premier League game against Fulham after his red card last week.

Nuno was sent off during Forest’s 2-2 draw at Brighton for his reaction to captain Morgan Gibbs-White’s 83rd-minute dismissal. Gibbs-White was shown a second yellow card by referee Rob Jones for his challenge on Joao Pedro, while Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was also sent off in the aftermath.

Nuno, Gibbs-White and Hurzeler were all charged by the Football Association on Tuesday for improper conduct and had until Friday to submit their observations, but the managers have been granted more time and now have until next Wednesday. Forest’s head coach, whose side are bidding to extend their unbeaten league start to six matches, said: “The (FA) charge has been made, but I’m going to be available to be on the game.

“We are still waiting for the final result (of the disciplinary hearing). I got a red card. Everybody saw the situation, so let’s wait and see what develops.”

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Following the incident, the Premier League said Forest manager Nuno and Brighton boss Hurzeler were sent off for "unacceptable" behaviour as their teams drew on the south coast.

"The referee issued a second yellow card to Gibbs-White for a reckless challenge on Pedro," the Premier League Match Centre social media account explained. "Fabian Hurzeler and Nuno Espírito Santo were both sent off for their unacceptable technical area behaviour following the incident."

Nuno said before his side’s opening game of the season against Bournemouth that he would make a determined bid to avoid clashing with match officials this season, but admitted it was not easy in the heat of the moment. "It’s very difficult for a manager sometimes to control their emotions,” he said. “It happens with a lot of managers.

“It’s an emotional game, with emotional situations and in the moment of the game sometimes it’s hard. I had a chance to apologise for my behaviour and I think it was accepted. I’ll try not to repeat it. I’ll try to avoid it.”

Forest, eighth in the table after winning two and drawing three of their matches, are one of four unbeaten sides in the league this season. Nuno added: “We are delighted with that statistic. We want it to continue and we have to work very hard to achieve it.

“It’s about how we want to progress as a team and what is important now is that every player is putting the team ahead of the individual. We are playing good, we are competing very well. But we are aware that the standards are high. It’s going to be a tough match on Saturday and we have to get ready for it.”

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