Nottingham Forest owner releases statement after confronting boss Nuno on pitch

Nottingham Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis has explained that his was a "natural" response his side's stuttering hopes. The pair were spotted having a few choice words on the pitch in the aftermath of Sunday's draw with - a result that has dented their hopes of a place at Europe's top table.

The Greek businessman has released a statement in response to the incident. And he explained that his frustration regarding a bizarre incident involving striker Taiwo Awoniyi, as well as the frustrating result, contributed to his reaction.

He wrote: “Today is a day for celebration, because after 30 years is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again – a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion!

“With two more games to go in the , we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game. We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.

“Everybody – coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself – we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgment on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.

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“This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club. Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming!”

Forest looked set to put themselves back in the top five after Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood had scored to complete Sunday's turnaround against local rivals Leicester. But loanee Facundo Buonanotte netted a sensational solo goal to seal a share of the points.

It leaves Forest seventh in the table and a point off of the Champions League places heading into the final two games of the season. They take on next weekend ahead of a potentially decisive showdown with on the final day.

Forest boss but assured that Marinakis' reaction was not an issue. The former head coach said: " is emotions, it's difficult to control when we had so much expectation.

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"The fans were incredible, we wanted to proceed the fight. It's not in our hands now, we appreciate the effort of the players and enthusiasm of the fans. It's not in our hands, but it's not over.

He added: "It was due to the situation. There was a confusion over the situation of T [Taiwo Awoniyi]. "There was frustration to play 10 minutes with a player that had so much confidence and being positive that he's going to score. We made the sub, then played with one man less. That causes frustration, it's obvious."

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