Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo expresses concern that the ambiguity surrounding Nottingham Forest’s Premier League status is adversely affecting his players.
Forest have lodged an appeal against a four-point deduction for violating profit and sustainability regulations.
The hearing is scheduled for April 24th.
Currently positioned just above the Premier League relegation zone, the club faces the risk of dropping into the bottom three if Luton triumph over Brentford on Saturday, prior to Forest’s upcoming match against Everton.
Despite the appeal hearing taking place on Wednesday, a verdict won’t be rendered immediately, prolonging the uncertainty for the club. Nuno acknowledges that this ongoing situation is negatively impacting his team.
He said: “When you are playing the season and you get this issue things become much harder because of the uncertainty, how it disturbs the whole harmony of the squad.
“We don’t know how many points we have because we still have an appeal. Maybe we get the four points back and everything changes.
“This becomes a problem, because you are working with something you can’t control.”
In March, Forest received a four-point deduction following an assessment by an independent commission, which determined that their financial losses for the 2022-23 period exceeded the PSR threshold of £61m by £34.5m.
Originally, they were slated to face a six-point deduction—three points for the initial breach and an additional three due to the extent of the violation. However, due to their “early plea” and “cooperation,” this penalty was mitigated to four points.
“Of course [it is being spoken about at the training ground]. It’s a point of distraction. It’s continuous, as every day there is something out – maybe we get the points back, maybe they take some. All these things are what causes the problem,” Nuno added.
Premier League clubs are allowed a financial deficit of £105m over three seasons, equating to £35m per campaign. However, Forest’s allowable maximum loss was capped at £61m because they spent two of the assessment period’s years in the Championship.
An independent commission will hear Wednesday’s appeal, with the timeline for the decision currently uncertain.
Everton, one point ahead of Forest, previously faced a 10-point deduction, later reduced to six, and are now contesting a two-point penalty received this month for a second PSR breach.
Nuno added: “We are in similar situations. It’s very hard to manage this noise around you, this uncertainty you have. Us and Everton have been dealing with the same issues.”