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Nuno Espirito Santo could not hide his delight after Nottingham Forest earned a penalty shoot-out victory over Ipswich following a 1-1 draw to progress into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
George Hirst struck nine minutes after the break to put the visitors in front but Ryan Yates’ fourth goal of the season brought Forest level and extra time passed by, which forced penalties.
All nine penalties had been scored when Jack Taylor walked to the spot inside a cauldron of City Ground boos and goalkeeper Matz Sels proved to be the hero for a second successive round in the shoot-out to send Forest through.
Nuno was relieved to see his side take a step closer to a Wembley date and insists he could not bear to watch his team’s penalties.
He said: “I’m really happy. We had so many hopes on the FA Cup to go as far as we can and in penalties the emotion is always big, so really happy.
“It was huge for us. The players did their jobs well, they were good penalties and Matz – amazing for us.
“It’s a good moment, it’s important for the club to give it a real go. Now we have to focus on the Premier League but the FA Cup is always going to be on our mind.
“It’s not nice at all, anxiety, nervous, mix of emotions. I try not to watch and just wait for the noise.”
It was the second straight FA Cup game in which Forest have come out on top in a penalty shoot-out after Sels produced saves in the last round against League One side Exeter.
Nuno added: “Every FA Cup draw we have to practice penalties, we kept the same order as Exeter.
“We did really well, they were good penalties. I believe it makes part of the game preparations, the same time as the goalkeeper to practice and to get as much info as possible. It’s dedication.”
Ipswich’s exit from the competition means they now switch their full focus to trying to stay in the Premier League with 11 games remaining.
Boss Kieran McKenna was proud of his players and believes they can take heart from battling with one of the top teams in the league.
He said: “We are disappointed to lose the game but that can happen in the penalty shoot-out. Really tough way to lose a match.
“Really proud of the efforts of the players, they couldn’t have put anything more into the game, they left everything out on the pitch.
“We can take a lot of positives from tonight but the main outcome we wanted was to go through.
“I think the players come into the training ground with a renewed confidence the way they competed.”
