Harry Toffolo preserved Nottingham Forest’s advantage with vital clearance against Tottenham on Monday night and then explained why motivation is so high in pursuit of top-five finish
Harry Toffolo produced a clearance that defied physics to boost Nottingham Forest ’s Champions League quest before admitting: “I never knew I could get my leg that high.”
Full-back Toffolo was parachuted in for his first league start of the campaign away to Tottenham on Monday and produced a stunning effort to deny Dejan Kulusevski from kick-starting a Spurs comeback.
And while the 29-year-old soon found his legs seizing up, despite necking six shots of pickle juice to fend off cramp, he says the physical toll will all be worth it if Forest can seal a top-five finish.
The win moved Nuno Espirito Santo’s side back to third place having lost their previous two games. But talk of a late-season wobble was silenced in north London, with Toffolo admitting: “It was important for us to bounce back.
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“Some of us might never get this opportunity again to qualify for the Champions League again. I was playing in League Two five or six years ago so to be in this position now is incredible and gives you an extra incentive.
“A lot of the pressure is from my boy at home saying, ‘We need to get in the Champions League, dad.’ We’re hard to play against, we’re everything in a team that fans would be proud of in a team and can almost identify with a player in the side.”
The clearance, a left leg hook at full stretch, came just as Tottenham began to build up a head of steam and Toffolo felt that had Forest conceded at the point they may not have been able to hold on. It also mirrored the exact movements recommended by set-piece coach Axl Rice during their final training session.
“That shows there’s method to the madness, doesn’t it?” Toffolo said. “It was incredible. It felt like the key moment in the game. I felt a bit under pressure when they scored late on and if that had happened half an hour before it’d have been a totally different game.”
Soon after cramp set in and Toffolo spent much of the final minutes looking towards the bench to see if he would be substituted.
“I’m absolutely knackered,” he added. “They give you this special pickle juice that’s supposed to stop cramp but it didn’t. You’re meant to have one or two but I had six. All I can taste is pickle in my mouth.
“I was looking over at the bench and the manager was going, ‘Get on with it.’ It shows you’ve got to be ready, you’ve got to be professional, if I’m not putting my all in in training I wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Now Forest head to Wembley for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side may be unbeaten since losing 1-0 at the City Ground in early March but Forest will have no fear on the big stage.
Toffolo added: “Already we’ve achieved so much as a group but we want more. That’s just the way we are as people. We’re excited, we’re really looking forward to the big day. We’re not nervous. We’ll take it to City, the manager will come with a gameplan that we’ll execute well. They won’t want to play us either. It should be an unbelievable day.”
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