The question on whether Nottingham Forest can “do a Leicester City’ continues to gather momentum and, just like Claudio Ranieri’s underdogs of 2016, they are refusing to leave the party.

Just like Leicester, it was predicted that Forest would fall away with the Christmas decorations, with their surprise title bid regarded as unsustainable. Just like Leicester, it was thought that the struggles of Forest’s entrenched rivals would never last forever and the table would eventually take on a more familiar appearance.

Yet here we are in late January and Forest are still here like unwanted guests at a private members’ club. While a top-four finish appears eminently possible, how can a possible title bid be completely ruled out?

Now nine games unbeaten, this latest victory included a very nervy ending which required a desperate goal-line clearance from Ola Aina to deny Southampton an unexpected equaliser in added time.

Those final chaotic stages were a concern for Nuno Espírito Santo, who admitted it was a wake-up call for his players.

Yet another win still takes Forest level on points with Arsenal and just six behind league leaders Liverpool. They are also a whopping 20 points ahead of beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur.

The only negative for Forest here was an injury to Callum Hudson-Odoi, who came off in the first half with a thigh problem.

“We are delighted to win as we knew how tough it would be,” said Nuno. “We have to look back and see how demanding the one before this one was [against Liverpool] with the high intensity required of our players, in terms of focus. We knew this could happen.

“It was a warning for everybody to realise that this league is very tough, and when you have the chance to kill off the game you must take it.”

Forest will face infinitely tougher tests than this, as Southampton crashed to an 18th defeat of the season yet produced a spirited late response. Southampton remain bottom of the table though the final half-hour will provide manager Ivan Juric with some hope for the future.

Dreadful in the first half but inspired late in the game, they had Forest hacking the ball away for safety during 12 tense minutes of added time.

Juric said: “We are not ready for 90 minutes and that is a real pity. We are a competitive team but if we are down 10 per cent then we are not competitive. When we don’t play with intensity or energy we are really bad.

“I hope a first-half like today never happens again. They score the first two goals, that is ridiculous. At the end that is the team I want to watch. Ola is an incredible player who I know from Torino, he is like a son to me and he has saved his team [from conceding] a goal.”

There will be much interest in how the rest of Southampton’s season pans out in Derby, down the dual carriageway known as Brian Clough Way. Derby’s supporters are feeling more optimistic than they have for some time that, finally, the awful record of 11 points from the 2007-08 season may be beaten.

Southampton are currently on six points with 16 games left, and could have been dead and buried by half-time. Forest were assured and comfortable in the opening 45 minutes, with the early verve of Southampton draining away as the goals rolled in.

The first goal came in the 11th minute and was also a first for midfielder Elliot Anderson.

Known as the ‘Geordie Maradona’, Anderson’s goal was a classy individual strike, advancing into space before crashing a low shot into the corner from 25 yards. Southampton’s defence will always give opponents chances and Forest added a second goal in the 29th minute.

It came after a poor mistake from Jan Bednarek, with Chris Wood nicking the ball off the centre-back before Hudson-Odoi took advantage by striking a shot past Aaron Ramsdale.

There appeared no way back for Southampton from here. Not even the injury to Hudson-Odoi could disrupt Forest, and Wood registered his 14th goal of the season shortly before half-time with a textbook header from Aina’s cross.

Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White were both denied at close-range early in the second half before Southampton responded on the hour with Bednarek deflecting substitute Lesley Ugochukwu’s shot over Matz Sels.

Forest thought they had added a fourth goal soon after when Southampton’s on-loan goalkeeper Ramsdale inexplicably fumbled Nikola Milenkovic’s header over the line.

Yet the goal was disallowed after referee Anthony Taylor reviewed the incident on his TV monitor, spotting an alleged infringement by Wood.

Forest switched into second gear for the final stages, and it almost cost them. Substitute Paul Onuachu powered in a header to reduce the deficit while Forest needed Aina’s brilliant clearance to deny Bednarek a dramatic equaliser.