Two-time Emirates FA Cup winners Nottingham Forest are looking to pick up where they left off in the top flight when they enter the competition this weekend.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team currently sit second in the Premier League, having enjoyed a flying start to the 2024-25 league campaign.
And the Reds are looking to extend their six-game winning streak when they host Championship side Luton Town on Saturday afternoon in the third round proper and carry that rich vein of form into competition which could translate to a cup run.
“It’s been very good so far,” said Forest defender and Welsh international Neco Williams. “I think that’s just a reflection of our hard work that we’ve been putting in but we’re still only halfway through and we’ve still got a lot of hard work to go.
“It’s too early to look into the future at what may happen but we just take each game as it comes and see what happens.”
The two teams – who have gone head-to-head on three separate occasions in the competition – met at Wembley in the 1959 FA Cup final when Billy Walker’s Forest side ran out 2-1 winners over Syd Owen’s Hatters. And it marks the Tricky Trees’ last triumph in this competition over six decades ago.
“It’s a tough game but one that I think we’ll be prepared for but it’ll be a good game,” explained Forest full-back Ola Aina.
“I think it’ll be good for the team if we can get an FA Cup run. It’s a magic tournament and anything can happen. The boys are excited to play in it and see how far we get.”
Williams and Aina have one eye on the FA Cup when they welcome Luton to packed-out City Ground at the weekend, with the duo, along with the fanbase, buoyed by recent results.
“They’re our twelfth man, home and away – they’re just as loud,” added Williams. “We appreciate it so much. The only we way can repay them is by getting three points each week which is what we’ve been doing lately.”
And as attention turns to the Hatters, the Tricky Trees will be hoping to book their place in the fourth round of the competition.
