Chris Wood got it right as Nottingham Forest beat Ipswich to get back on track | first division

The prospect of Chris Wood writing his name on the Nottingham Forest The history books or the team finishing sixth in the Premier League seemed a bit far-fetched when Nuno Espírito Santo was appointed head coach last December. Less than a year later, both things are true, after the striker scored his ninth goal of the season to defeat Ipswich.

When Nuno arrived for a relegation battle, Wood had been a perennial substitute under Steve Cooper, but he quickly became a firm favorite for his replacement and has repaid him with consistent goals. Wood becomes the leader of the club first division scorer with Bryan Roy after holding his nerve to settle a close match.

After two defeats in a row, Nuno was looking for a reaction from Forest. He made his feelings known by creating five chances following the defeat to Arsenal last weekend. Jota Silva arrived in his first game as a starter in the Premier League and brought the energy and impetus desired by his coach. The Portuguese international took a corner 30 seconds into the game and forced Axel Tuanzebe to give him a warning to stop a counterattack.

Forest dominated the first quarter of the match and looked threatening, but were unable to test Arijanet Muric, despite a series of set pieces launched into the area. Instead, it was Ipswich who could have taken the lead when Cameron Burgess whipped a corner across the goal, but Ola Aina was standing at the post to clear the line.

Ipswich were keen to slow things down, whether by delaying a restart or making a controlled stoppage, getting treatment for one of their players when it seemed unnecessary, disrupting the flow of proceedings and creating a messy affair in the process. It helped Kieran McKenna's team into the game and they would have opened the scoring if Liam Delap had not stripped the ball from Conor Chaplin after Matz Sels had put Omari Hutchinson's shot into his path.

It was Jota's lively nature that resulted in Forest winning a penalty in the early stages of the second half, which Wood crashed down the middle to put him alongside Roy on 24 top-flight goals. There was contact between Jota and Sammie Szmodics but the fall was somewhat theatrical. Referee Tony Harrington was confident in his decision, while the video assistant referee saw no reason to try to change his mind.

Muric made a magnificent save, deflecting Murillo's close-range header from a corner onto the crossbar to prevent Forest from doubling their lead. Set pieces were causing Ipswich problems as Elliot Anderson almost took a direct corner, forcing the goalkeeper to tip it away from under the crossbar before Burgess came off the line to prevent Jota from scoring.

Ipswich struggled to cause problems for the Forest defense as Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo kept the highly praised Delap quiet. Despite the visitors chasing the game, Sels were allowed a relaxed afternoon, barely needing to be awake for Ipswich's best chance of the second half when substitute Jack Clarke's shot from inside the area was sent straight at the goalkeeper for leave Ipswich in the bottom three. and Forest returns to normal.