Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged Nottingham Forest were "fortunate" to come away from their clash against Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-1 victory.

Forest returned to third place in the Premier League table, after first-half goals from Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood eventually proved enough to take maximum points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, it was a real backs-to-the-wall display by Forest, who had just 30.1% of possession across the 90 minutes, while registering just four shots to their opponents' 22.

Yet, despite Richarlison's late header halving the deficit, the visitors held out for a crucial three points towards their Champions League ambitions.

"There is no other way. Tottenham put us against the ropes, so it is about defending and holding on to the result," Nuno told Sky Sports.

"We started the game well. We created danger with good combinations. We wanted to go more offensive in the second half, try to be more dangerous and have more of the ball.

"When you have something, it is about getting through it - especially in these moments of the season when there is fatigue, not only physical but mental, anxiety. All these things made the team go back a bit.

"Credit to Tottenham. They created so many chances against us, and we were fortunate to get away with the result."

Forest returned to winning ways following back-to-back defeats, which saw them slip to sixth place in the table.

Matz Sels praised the determination of his team-mates, as he set his sights on securing a top-five finish with five games remaining. 

"We knew that after the two losses in the last two games, it was important to bounce back," the goalkeeper said. "We are really happy with the three points today, and to be back where we have been the whole season.

"Tottenham are a strong team that put you under a lot of pressure. It was not easy for us, but we defended well and did not give a lot of chances away.

"With 66 points, you are normally quite sure to finish in the top five, but this season, it might be a little bit more because all the teams around us keep winning. There are five games to go and we know what we need to do.

"We will see where we can end up, but we have already played an amazing season. We can be proud of what we did up until now, but we want to give everything to finish there in the top five."

"The result was massive for us," Anderson added. "It was a huge game to come into to try to get three points. The lads dug in and showed what we are about, and we're buzzing.

"We really needed that after two defeats. We have come back and bounced back, so it is huge for us. We've got to keep believing until the last game. We will be pushing."