Silence is golden and Morgan Gibbs-White’s goal celebration was the perfect response to the taunts from Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters.

The midfielder, 24, strode in front of the South Bank – where Wolves’ most vocal support is – and put his fingers to his ears.

It was as if he was saying the taunts would not get to him. Or if they did, then he would respond in the best way, by scoring against the club that gave him his big break in football.

Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo, who is so fondly remembered from his four years in charge of Wolves, insists Gibbs-White is grateful for his time at Molineux.

“It means a lot, every time he scores it’s important,” said Nuno.

“Being here at Wolves he has a different feeling about it. I know he is forever thankful to Wolves. We need him to score.”

The player himself says there are no hard feelings towards Wolves, who after all have benefitted to the tune of up to £42.5 million from his move to Forest.

“There is a lot of rivalry going on there with me and Wolves but that’s what makes football,” said Gibbs-White.

“It’s all love and banter. I take it that way anyway.”

His response was to score in the seventh minute from the game’s first chance.

It was all too easy for the former Wolves midfielder as he netted his fourth goal of the season and his second successive strike.

Receiving a short pass from Elliot Anderson, the recent England cap ran unchallenged for some 40 yards before exchanging passes with Anthony Elanga to his right.

Meeting Elanga’s cross, he swept home first time from 10 yards before the backtracking Santiago Bueno could react.

Gibbs-White was at first silent as he turned away before turning to the Wolves supporters in the South Bank and cupping his ears.

The Stafford-born midfielder is a far more accomplished player than the one that left Molineux.

Back then he didn’t know what he was; he had played as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder, wide right of an attacking three – even right-back.

But it’s as a No 10 that he has made his name and is looking like one of the country’s most exciting talents, making so many correct and decisive decisions in an increasingly ruthless, winning team.

These are heady days for Forest. But in the month of the 50th anniversary of the arrival of their legendary manager Brian Clough, Nuno is deliberately playing down their chances of challenging for the title, despite them drawing level on points with second-placed Arsenal.

“It means a lot of us, Brian Clough is a legend for the club,” said the Portuguese. “We can see it all over Nottingham, the stadium and training ground.

“It can only inspire us. We have to keep on going. Our happiness is based on how the squad are working together.”

Depleted Wolves had their chances, especially in the first half.

Their seven-goal striker Jørgen Strand Larsen couldn’t force the ball home after Hwang Hee-chan cut inside and shot.

Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels then made a brilliant one-handed save to tip over Rodrigo Gomes’s volley.

Molineux then howled for a penalty when a chip from Rayan Aït-Nouri hit Callum Hudson-Odoi.

But replays showed the former Chelsea winger controlled the ball with the side of his chest rather than his hand or arm, despite the loud appeals.

The excellent Sels came to Forest’s rescue again when he blocked Strand Larsen’s point-blank header from Gomes’s cross – a save he could know little about – then palmed away Aït-Nouri’s corner.

Forest were inexplicably denied a penalty in the 34th minute when Ola Aina’s cross struck the right hand of Aït-Nouri, who actually moved his arm towards the ball. However, the VAR took a long look at the incident before declining to intervene.

It was 2-0 in the 44th minute as Forest provided the perfect answer to Wolves’ pressure.

A long kick from Sels gave Hudson-Odoi the chance to run at Matt Doherty down Wolves’ right.

The winger showed pace and muscle as he breezed past the Irishman with ease before squaring to Chris Wood who steered the ball past a helpless José Sá with an effortless flick as Aït-Nouri arrived far too late.

Wood celebrated his 499th League appearance with his 12th goal of the season, and against one of his favourite opponents, having netted against them earlier this campaign and previously for Burnley and Newcastle.

Sels came to Forest’s rescue in the 67th minute. A quick break by Wolves saw Hwang drive at the defence before finding Gonçalo Guedes who squared to Strand Larsen for a drive palmed behind by the goalkeeper.

But Taiwo Awoniyi tapped home in the 94th minute from James Ward-Prowse’s cross to cap a memorable night for Forest.

10:17 PM GMT

The joy of six

10:11 PM GMT

Morgan Gibbs-White’s reaction

09:56 PM GMT

FT: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 3

That’s six wins in a row for Forest, their best run in the top flight since they won seven consecutive games at the end of 1978-79 and the start of 1979-80. It was a classic Forest performance: strong defensively, particularly in the second half, and devastating on the counter-attack.

Morgan Gibbs-White’s early goal set the game up perfectly for Forest, although they needed a bit of fortune when Jorgen Strand Larsen missed two excellent chances to equalise. Chris Wood’s goal on the stroke of half-time was a killer blow; Forest controlled the second half and the match was over long before the substitute Taiwo Awoniyi got the third in added time.

Forest are now six points behind Liverpool having played a game more. Their next league match: Liverpool at the City Ground a week tomorrow.

09:52 PM GMT

Goal!

90+4 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 3 (Awoniyi) The perfect finish for Forest. Hudson-Odoi slices Wolves open on the break with a terrific angled through pass to Ward-Prowse. He drew the keeper and squared the ball to give Taiwo Awoniyi an open goal.

09:49 PM GMT

90 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Four minutes of added time. Forest have drained Wolves of the belief they can save this game; it’s been another fine away performance.

09:47 PM GMT

89 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Awoniyi almost scores with his first touch after seizing on a mistimed backheader from Doherty. He knocked the ball through the legs of Sa but it ran well wide of the near post.

09:46 PM GMT

88 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Double substitution for Forest Off go the goalscorers, Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood. James Ward-Prowse and Taiwo Awoniyi replace them.

09:43 PM GMT

86 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

There’s a quick VAR check when Yates catches Strand Larsen in the area with a stiff arm. It looked like he was pushed into Strand Larsen; either way, no penalty.

09:41 PM GMT

83 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

A nice move from Wolves ends with Bellegarde’s shot deflecting wide off Murillo. The resulting corner is flapped away by Sels.

09:37 PM GMT

79 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Forest are very comfortable defensively, much more so than in the first half. The second half has been a non-event which suits them just fine. One Wolves goal would be against the run of play, never mind two.

09:32 PM GMT

75 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Double change for Wolves Pablo Sarabia and Carlos Forbs on; Hwang Hee-chan and Goncalo Guedes off.

09:30 PM GMT

72 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

A half chance for Forest. Jota Silva, just on as sub, lobs an imaginative first-time cross towards Hudson-Odoi at the far post. The bounce is awkward and Hudson-Odoi can’t keep his header down.

09:27 PM GMT

69 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Double change for Forest Ryan Yates and Jota Silva replace Elliot Anderson, who was excellent, and Anthony Elanga, who was even better.

09:25 PM GMT

67 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Fine save by Sels! Wolves almost give Forest a taste of their own medicine with a terrific break. Hwang plays a return pass to Strand Larsen, who cracks a deflected shot from the edge of the area that is tipped round the near post by the diving Sels. That’s a fine reaction save.

09:23 PM GMT

66 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Ait-Nouri gets to the byline and flashes a cross that just evades Strand Larsen at the near post. No other Wolves players were in the six-yard box.

09:23 PM GMT

64 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Wolves are starting to apply some pressure after a slow start to the second half. Still no real chances though.

09:20 PM GMT

61 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Chance for Forest! The superb Elanga charges into the area and picks out Anderson, whose first-time shot hits Doherty and flies behind for a corner. Doherty may well have saved a goal there.

09:19 PM GMT

61 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Forest have a free-kick 50 yards from goal... and Murillo has a shot. It goes high and wide, obviously, but you have to admire the audacity.

In other news, Forest have indeed switched to a back five.

09:18 PM GMT

60 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Forest substitution Morato comes on for Nicolas Dominguez, which might mean a switch to a back five.

09:17 PM GMT

59 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Double substitution for Wolves Mario Lemina and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde come on for Tommy Doyle and Pedro Lima, the 18-year-old who can be pleased with his debut.

09:15 PM GMT

57 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

A bit better from Wolves. Hwang plays a short pass to the underlapping Ait-Nouri, whose deflected cross is booted away by Williams.

09:14 PM GMT

56 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Forest have managed the second half really well so far and Vitor Pereira is about to make a change.

09:11 PM GMT

53 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Rodrigo Gomes makes a crucial tackle on Aina to thwart another menacing Forest break.

09:10 PM GMT

51 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Wolves haven’t yet been able to pick up where they left off, it not at half-time then certainly before Chris Wood made it 2-0. It’s a bit flat and they need a chance or better still a goal to enliven the crowd.

09:05 PM GMT

47 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

A terrific cross from Elanga bounces right across the six-yard box before being turned behind for a corner by the stretching Joao Gomes.

The resulting corner, taken by Elanga, is headed over at the near post by Milenkovic. Half a chance.

09:03 PM GMT

46 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Wolves get the second half under way; within 15 seconds Doyle is booked for a tactical foul on Elanga. He had to make that or Wolves would have been exposed at the back.

08:48 PM GMT

HT: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2

Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood scored superb counter-attacking goals to flatten a Wolves side who dominated much of the first half, are ahead on all the underlying numbers and will wonder what has happened to them.

Not that Forest will care. They’re like a darts player who consistently wins games with a lower average than their opponent; it happens far too often to be a fluke.

08:44 PM GMT

Goal!

44 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 2 (Wood) Another devastating thrust from Forest on the stroke of half-time! The goalkeeper Sels drives a long pass out to Hudson-Odoi on the left wing near the halfway line. He runs at Doherty, then burns him off and moves into the area. Wood moves towards the near post before deliberately slowing down to lose his marker. Hudson-Odoi cuts the ball back and Wood screws a first-time shot across Jose Sa. Classic counter-attacking football from Forest.

08:43 PM GMT

43 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Rodrigo Gomes curls a nice ball out to Pedro Lima, whose early cross flashes across the face of goal. Pedro Lima has put some inviting balls into the box from the right.

08:40 PM GMT

39 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

This is high-octane stuff, with Wolves pressing impatiently for an equaliser and Forest breaking at every opportunity.

08:37 PM GMT

36 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

The last defender Doherty flattens Hudson-Odoi just past the halfway line. Santiago Bueno was covering so there’s no question of a redd card but it’s a slight surprise Doherty wasn’t booked.

08:35 PM GMT

33 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

VAR check for a Forest penalty! Aina’s cross hits the arm of Ait-Nouri, which is slightly away from his body, and there’s a delay before VAR eventually backs up the on-field decision. My instinct is that Ait-Nouri was trying to pull his arm away from the ball, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it. The Sky commentator Don Goodman is surprised the referee wasn’t invited to look at it again.

08:32 PM GMT

30 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Forest midfielder Nicolas Dominguez was booked for a late tackle on Guedes a couple of minutes back; I missed it in all the excitement around Strand Larsen’s chance.

08:30 PM GMT

29 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Great chance for Strand Larsen! Wolves should be level, maybe even ahead. Rodrigo Gomes curls a delicious inswinging cross from the left towards Strand Larsen, who towers over Milenkovic but heads too close to Selz from close range. It still required a fine reaction save but Strand Larsen should have given him no chance.

08:26 PM GMT

25 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Elanga’s cross from the right is cleared only as far as Anderson on the edge of the area. He smacks an early shot that is well blocked by the outrushing Doyle.

08:25 PM GMT

25 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

A mistake from Murillo allows Strand Larsen to release Hwang in the inside-left channel. He moves into the area but then slices well wide of the near post. Despite the score, Wolves have played pretty well.

08:21 PM GMT

21 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

A promising Forest ends with Dominguez curling over the bar from distance. It’s been a cracking first quarter.

08:19 PM GMT

17 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Wolves appeal for handball and a penalty when the ball hits Hudson-Odoi in the area. It might have hit his arm but it came off his chest first and VAR clear it very quickly.

08:16 PM GMT

16 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

On reflection I’m not sure Strand Larsen was offside when his shot was blocked on the line, but there’s no time to dwell on that because Anderson has just been booked for a lunge at Doyle.

Edit: Strand Larsen was definitely onside and should have equalised in the 14th minute. Hwang surged into the area, sat a defender down and then played the ball across the area, taking Sels out of the game in the process. Strand Larsen turned it goalwards and Murillo cleared; had the shot been either side Wolves would have scored.

08:15 PM GMT

14 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Fine save by Sels! Murillo clears off the line from Strand Larsen, who might have been offside, and then Sels leaps to his left to push a ferocious volley from Rodrigo Gomes over the bar. That’s a lovely save because Gomes really sweet-spotted it.

The resulting corner leads to a bit of a scramble and a reflex save from Sels. That wasn’t as tricky as the first one.

08:13 PM GMT

13 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Wolves work the ball across the face of the Forest area. Doyle then finds the overlapping Pedro Lima, whose deflected cross is booted away. Pedro Lima, the 18-year-old debutant, looks lively on the right wing.

08:12 PM GMT

10 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1

Gibbs-White, who has been booed since the first whistle, celebrated the goal by putting his fingers in his ears. I suppose there’s more than one way to give the crowd two fingers.

08:07 PM GMT

Goal!

7 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 1 (Gibbs-White) Morgan Gibbs-White silences the crowd with a superb counter-attacking goal! Anderson collected a loose ball just outside the Forest area and fired a sharp pass into Gibbs-White. Suddenly Forest had a four-on-three and Wolves were in trouble.

Gibbs-White ran 50 yards and and pushed the ball to his right for Elanga, who took a touch and returned it with a square pass. Gibbs-White, 15 yards out, sidefooted a shot that took a slight deflection and beat Jose Sa at the near post. Forest are devastating on the break.

08:06 PM GMT

6 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 0

It’s been a cagey start to the game. Wolves want to dominate the ball but are understandably wary of Forest’s counter-attacking ability.

08:05 PM GMT

4 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 0

Morgan Gibbs-White is being booed every time he touches the ball, which is more than most given his role as Forest’s playmaker. He played 88 games for Wolves before joining Forest in 2022.

08:02 PM GMT

2 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 0

The debutant Pedro Lima’s first contribution is a dangerous cross that is headed away by the stretching Milenkovic. That should calm the nerves.

08:01 PM GMT

1 min: Wolves 0 Nottm Forest 0

Firest, in their blue change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.

07:58 PM GMT

Tuchel in attendance at Molineux

The new England manager Thomas Tuchel is at tonight’s game. The four England-qualified starters are Tommy Doyle, Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Elliot Anderson.

07:45 PM GMT

A reminder of the teams

Wolves (3-4-2-1) Jose Sa; Doherty, Bueno, Ait Nouri; Pedro Lima, Doyle, Joao Gomes, Rodrigo Gomes; Goncalo Guedes, Hwang; Larsen. 
Substitutes: Johnstone, Lemina, Sarabia, Forbs, Bellegarde, Meupiyou, Cundle, Pond, Okoduwa.

Nottm Forest (4-2-3-1) Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Dominguez, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood.
Substitutes: Carlos Miguel, Morato, Awoniyi, Ward-Prowse, Alex, Jota Silva, Yates, Sosa, Boly.

07:42 PM GMT

Forest aiming for sixth straight win

Since a 3-0 defeat at the Etihad at the start of December, Nottingham Forest have won five Premier League games in a row.

• Man Utd 2-3 Nottm Forest

• Nottm Forest 2-1 Aston Villa

• Brentford 0-2 Nottm Forest

• Nottm Forest 1-0 Tottenham

• Everton 0-2 Nottm Forest

07:15 PM GMT

Wolves’ formation

The new Wolves manager Vitor Pereira is chatting to the Sky Sports team. He says Wolves will play with a hybrid formation and that he wants them to play with three defenders rather than three centre-backs.

07:06 PM GMT

Ready for action

06:49 PM GMT

Nottingham Forest team news: Murillo returns

Nuno Espirito Santo makes two changes from the XI that won 2-0 at Everton. Murillo and Callum Hudson-Odoi return in place of Morato and Ramon Sosa.

06:48 PM GMT

Wolves team news: Pedro Lima makes Premier League debut

Pedro Lima, an 18-year-old right-back from Brazil, makes his Wolves debut, one of five changes from the 2-2 draw at Spurs. Rodrigo Gomes, Tommy Doyle, Goncalo Guedes and Jorgen Strand Larsen also come into the side, with Craig Dawson, Andre, Nelson Semedo, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matheus Cunha dropping out. Four of the changes are enforced, with only Bellegarde on the bench.

Wolves are short on centre-backs so they might switch to a back four, although I suspect it’ll be the usual 3-4-2-1 with Rayan Ait-Nouri as the left-sided centre-back.

06:41 PM GMT

Good evening

Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live, minute-by-minute coverage of Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest at Molineux. When the return game at the City Ground in August finished 1-1, you could have picked your own odds on tonight’s game being 17th v 3rd. Forest have overachieved spectacularly under Nuno Espirito Santo, who returns to Molineux for the first time as Forest manager, and are chasing their sixth straight win tonight.

Wolves became a bit of a rabble, surprisingly so, under Gary O’Neil but have shown signs of recovery since Vitor Pereira replaced him. They remain well and truly in a relegation battle, but victory tonight would lift them above Everton into 16th – and leave them only four points behind Manchester United in 13th.

They will be without their talisman Matheus Cunha, who is suspended, but there has been some good news with reports that Cunha – who is a target for Arsenal – is close to signing a new contract.

Pereira wants to bring in players rather than lose them. “We have a short squad and we don’t have a lot of solutions for each position and it means that we need to keep the players and to bring one or two players to help us and to bring different solutions,” he said. “It’s not the time to start sending the players out, but we need to have a balance in this.

“I know the month of January, when the market is open, every team will have happy players and some players that want to play more and have more of a chance to play. We understand everything, but in this moment, we need to think about the team and about ourselves. We need everyone.”

Kick off 8pm.