Nuno Espirito Santo admits only an inspired performance from goalkeeper Matz Sels prevented Liverpool from completing a comeback victory at Nottingham Forest. Substitute Diogo Jota scored with his first touch midway through the second half to equalise Chris Wood’s early opener and earn the visitors a 1-1 draw at the City Ground on Tuesday night.

Liverpool were underwhelming for an hour but created a host of chances after drawing level, only to continually be denied by heroics from Sels.

And Nuno said: “Matz Sels was huge for us and kept us in the game. The final minutes were about heart and desire and trying to defend. Matz was huge for us and he is in a very good moment. But that’s an aspect we have to improve. We allowed too many shots inside our box.

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“It was a very special night. The bond between the team and fans, we cannot thank them enough. We were disappointed but if you look back, Liverpool had a lot of chances.

“In the final minutes of the second half we were really organised, and we didn’t allow Liverpool to really break us. In the second half, we knew Liverpool were going to react and especially when the game has spaces and you allow such talented players to run with the ball for one v ones.”

Nuno was the manager of Jota at Wolves, and he said of Liverpool’s equaliser: “We had been really good at (defending) set-pieces. I didn’t see the images but Diogo, I had him for some time (at Wolves) and he is a threat in the box.

“But I didn’t expect him to score from a set-piece. There had been a slight change for Liverpool and we wanted to make a change at that moment.”

The result means the Reds remain six points clear of second-placed Forest with a game in hand, with Nuno’s side still to welcome title contenders Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City to the City Ground this season.

And of the examination they were given by Liverpool in the final half-hour, the Forest boss said: “It was a lesson for all of us. This is how we want to compete, (right up to) the limit of our efforts. I am very, very proud of the work of our players. We did defensive actions that we should now not ever change.

“Our concentration and focus is very good. You have to give credit to our players. They showed themselves against such talented opponents. We are going to play them all now so we will see how many points we get.”