Forest ‘focusing on the present’ – but will they stay up?

Vitor Pereira is still searching for his first Premier League victory as Nottingham Forest boss.

A 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Sunday – in his third league game in charge – stretched their winless run to five league games.

With 10 games to go, Forest teeter just two points above the relegation zone.

But Pereira, who became the club’s fourth permanent manager this season when he replaced Sean Dyche last month, insists he is not paying attention to the Premier League table.

“I believe we need to focus on the present and focus on the day we play, focus on the game we are playing. Not to look at the future,” Pereira told BBC Sport.

“The future… we will see what happens. If you lose your focus thinking about what can happen, this is a mistake in my opinion.

“Just look at the now. Just rest, be ready, prepare for the next game and focus on the next game.”

Pereira blamed a lack of preparation time for their defeat at Brighton.

The club lost 2-1 at home to Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday, although they progressed to the last 16 thanks to their 3-0 win in the first leg.

It means that Forest, who have been drawn against Danish side Midtjylland, will end up playing six games in the first 22 days of March.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Pereira said: “The tiredness is not only physical, it’s mental too. You need to recover.

“But this is what we have. You cannot use the Europa League as an excuse because we are there and we are there competing.

Forest are a long way from the joys of last season, when they finished seventh and secured a place in Europe for the first time since 1996.

The club have won just seven of their 28 league games this term and they have struggled without last season’s top scorer Chris Wood, who has been out since October with knee injury.

Only bottom side Wolves (15) have failed to score in more Premier League games this season than Forest (13).

Tottenham, too, have European football to contend with – in the Champions League – and have also been drawn into the relegation battle.

Like Forest, Tottenham are adapting to a new manager in Igor Tudor who has lost his first two league matches in charge.

Promoted side Leeds also have only seven wins to show for the season so far, but they have six points separating themselves and the danger zone.

Unlike Forest, Leeds have stuck with their manager Daniel Farke and have challenged some of the league’s top sides, taking points off Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool.

West Ham – under former Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo – are on course to be relegated from the Premier League for the first time since 2011.

They are two points adrift of safety, but have experienced an upturn in results of late with a victory over Burnley alongside draws against Manchester United and Bournemouth.

While West Ham are still within touching distance of the teams above the relegation zone, Burnley and Wolves have a mountain to climb if they are to stay up.

While Wolves are not mathematically down yet, data experts Opta rank their chances of relegation as 99.98%.