The cut-throat decision to fire Steve Cooper was not a wholly popular one with the Nottingham Forest faithful, but just three games into his tenure, former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur boss Santo is vindicating the board’s call.
After overseeing an unjust 3-2 loss to Bournemouth in his inaugural game in charge, Santo has since masterminded exceptional beatings of Newcastle United and Manchester United, the latter of whom succumbed to Nicolas Dominguez and Morgan Gibbs-White strikes either side of a Marcus Rashford response.
Whether Forest’s mini-revival is a simple case of the customary new manager bounce remains to be seen, but the Reds’ recent upturn in form has allowed them to establish a five-point lead over the relegation zone in the Premier League table, although they are hardly home and hosed in 15th spot.
The bottom-half scrap can wait while a spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup is on the line, though, and Forest have only been beaten in one of their last three third-round matches, although that did come in a 4-1 humbling at the hands of Blackpool last year.
Rashford’s consolation effort for Man United on December 30 also means that Nottingham Forest are without a clean sheet in nine straight matches, but they had prevailed in five successive FA Cup contests at the City Ground before their impressive 2021-22 run came to an end with a quarter-final loss to Liverpool.
astounding as Blackpool’s cup crushing of Forest last year was, Tangerines boss Neil Critchley – who was not even in the dugout for that game – will no doubt stress that last January’s third-round success will mean little against Santo’s reinvigorated unit this time around.
Blackpool have already had to navigate their way past Bromley and Forest Green to set up a reunion with the Garibaldi, although they experienced few roadblocks en route to round three, scoring five goals and conceding none across those two victories
links >> Stream 1 HD Stream 2 HD Stream 3 HD Stream 4 HD
Defeats to Burton Albion and Port Vale during the festive period slightly spoiled the Christmas celebrations at Bloomfield Road, but Critchley’s men made it five wins on the bounce at home on New Year’s Day, when Oliver Casey’s header and CJ Hamilton’s late strike secured a 2-0 League One win over Lincoln City.
Hovering just outside the playoff places in eighth spot, Blackpool are now bidding to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1971, but amid their stellar streak of home form, the third-tier visitors lost all three of their road contests in December.
Last season’s 4-1 FA Cup pummelling ended a five-game winless run for Blackpool against Nottingham Forest, who did the double over the Tangerines in the 2021-22 Championship campaign and have not been beaten at the City Ground by their upcoming opponents since 2013.
