Nuno Espirito Santo reacts to Nottingham Forest's statement after the club denied three penalties

Nuno Espirito Santo has given a surprising response to Nottingham Forest's dramatic statement following their defeat to Everton.

Nuno admitted on talkSPORT that he was aware that Forest had questioned the appointment of Stuart Attwellthe VAR for their controversial 2-0 defeat, before the start of the match.

The 'Tricky Trees' had three penalty appeals at Goodison Park rejected by pitch official Anthony Taylor, and their decisions were backed by Attwell at Stockley Park.

After the match, Forest issued a statement saying they are “considering their options” over the “extremely poor” refereeing decisions.

The club also revealed that they had warned PGMOL about bias by accusing Attwell of being a luton city amateur, with the Hatters just one point behind Forest in the relegation zone.

During a post-match interview with talkSPORT, Nuno said: “I can explain my position, I was aware of that complaint.

“It is a formal complaint. Each club has the right to do so if it feels that it does not feel comfortable. The PGMOL decides otherwise.

“If Stuart Attwell isn't a Luton fan, that doesn't matter. That doesn't matter at the end of the day. That doesn't matter. He's there to do his job.

“Starting today with Anthony Taylor, he did a bad job and the VAR did a bad job because the decisions are bad.

“I'm telling you, after losing a game, everyone will say, 'Okay, look at the coach, look, he's getting excuses.' No, it's not an excuse, it's reality.

5

“We don't know what can happen with that decision, but they are bad decisions, they are penalties and the VAR should help the referee. I saw it.”

Forest's statement was his last act of grievance against the decisions of the VAR and the referees throughout the season.

Forest complained about referee Attwell and his teammates in their 3-2 defeat against manchester united in August.

Willy Boly's expulsion against Bournemouth In December, PGMOL director Howard Webb confirmed that an error had been made.

Forest also wrote a letter of complaint to the Premier League after Ivan ToneyThe controversial free-kick goal on his return from his ban for betting breach in Brentford's 3-2 win earlier this year.

The Midlands team even hired former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg as an analyst for their referees to offer advice on specific issues while also acting as an expert conduit between them and the PGMOL.

5

5

Forest manager Nuno admitted he understood the club's frustrations after a catalog of non-stop decisions since his arrival.

The former Tottenham manager made reference to Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis storming onto the pitch. at the end of the 1-0 defeat against Liverpool.

Forest were unhappy having lost possession in added time, when play was stopped due to an apparent head injury to Ibrahima Konate. Darwin Núñez will find a winner in the last breath.

Nuno added to talkSPORT: “I would prefer to talk about other things. I prefer to talk about the need we have in these four games.

“I prefer to talk about the performance and level of the players, but this has been going on for a long time.

“Since I arrived I have this feeling of growing and growing, so you have to understand the club's reaction.

5

“We owe it to our fans. 1,000 people or more, 2,000/3,000 people travel. They are in this field and they need to be respected.

“The referees must know and evaluate that they are (making) bad decisions against us. Decisions that are costing us points, not just penalties.

“Just remember the last minute, 30 seconds left of the game against Liverpool. You know what I mean? “So you have to understand that we react like that.”

“Look, if we were in another country, we'd start talking about conspiracy. Do you know what I mean?”

But when asked to clarify whether there was any suggestion of conspiracy or anything untoward, Nuno replied: “No, I don't know. No. I'm not talking about that.

“But why is it always this, and then comes the response from the final panel that they have a week later saying, 'No, you were right, you're entitled to a penalty bah, bah, bah,' what's the point?

“It seems like they are playing with us.”