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Nottingham Forest make new signing just 24 hours before huge Liverpool clash

File photo dated 21/10/24 of Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo insists nobody at the City Ground is getting carried away with the club’s flying start to the season. Issue date: Saturday November 9, 2024.
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Nottingham Forest have confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey - just hours ahead of their top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Liverpool. The Reds travel to the City Ground on Tuesday night looking to extend their lead over second-placed Forest to six points.

But just hours before the game in the East Midlands, Forest announced that Hennessey has re-joined the club on a short-term contract until the end of the season. The 37-year-old former Wales international first signed for the club in 2022 but departed when his contract expired last summer.

However, he has remained at the club's training base in the months since. On Monday, in his pre-match press conference before the tie, Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: "Unfortunately Wayne had a serious injury at the end of last season which was a tough moment for everybody inside the training ground.

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"But he has improved and now he's a big part of us, especially in the goalkeeping community which is a small group.

"He's signed his contract and it's a pleasure to have him around. His knowledge, his experience, the way he goes about his work, it's really good to have him."

Forest's 1-0 win over Liverpool in September means they are still the only team to have defeated Arne Slot's side in the Premier League this season. And speaking about the challenge Forest will pose on Tuesday, Slot said: "I think they already showed in retrospect how good of a team they are.

"Leading up to that game I think they had two draws and one win. In general, I think when Liverpool loses a home game that is something we don't expect.

"I think in that moment of time I also saw the stat that Virgil [van Dijk] played 100 games for Liverpool and only lost [twice at Anfield]. So, for us to lose then on that day was for me hard to take, as you probably experienced.

"Now looking back at it and seeing where they are in the league it's not been as such a shock result as I thought it was back then. They had a very good game plan. [They] changed the wingers that normally played and brought them in at the end and they made a difference.

"Although I expect their wingers that have done so well to be in the starting XI tomorrow. That's something he changed back then and that worked really well for them during that game."