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Nuno Espirito Santo is not one for big declarations about Nottingham Forest's prospects.

He would not be drawn on discussing the Premier League table - after moving eighth following Monday's win over Crystal Palace - but that is understandable given how fluid the league can be.

Last season, 27 points would have been good enough to survive and Forest are almost halfway there.

The points tally is comparable to 2023-24 and it only took Forest another two games to reach 13 points before six winless games sealed Steve Cooper's fate and ushered in Nuno's era.

Forest's boss spoke about the spirit and bond of his team after their victory and how they cannot ignore the talent of every opponent.

In some ways it is boring, Nuno is never going to write a headline at this stage but he is right to. For Forest, boring is good after the chaos of last season.

A first home win though was far from tedious as Forest edged a contest that genuinely could have gone either way or still ended in a draw. But for Matz Sels' second-half interventions, Palace would have taken a point.

That comes down to the spirit Nuno spoke about and how Forest have to run, cover and have more bodies in the way to stop their opponent.

It was evident on Monday and, while it is too early to make any grand statements just yet, Forest are slowly starting to prove they have both the quality and the work rate to achieve their goals this season.