Evangelos Marinakis confirms stance on Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis says he remains ‘extremely proud’ of Nuno Espirito Santo, despite invading the pitch to shout at the manager after the side’s 2-2 draw with lowly Leicester.

Forest looked to be heading back into the Champions League positions as they fought back from Conor Coady’s early headed effort to take a one-goal lead through Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood.

But Facundo Buonanotte came on and rescued a point for the visiting Foxes in the 81st minute, leaving Espirito Santo’s men one point adrift of fifth-placed Chelsea down in seventh.

Forest do battle with fellow Champions League hopefuls Chelsea on the final day of the Premier League season, but will, first, look to return to winning ways away to West Ham next weekend.

There were incredible scenes after the final whistle at the City Ground as Marinakis – the founder and chairman of Capital Maritime Trading Corp – rushed onto the field to make his frustrations known to Espirito Santo.

Espirito Santo later revealed the ‘confusion’ over an incident involving Taiwo Awoniyi was the source of Marinakis’ anger, with the striker deemed fit enough to continue – but clearly struggling with an injury after his introduction late on.

Soon after, Marinakis took to Instagram to have his say, underlining that the Forest head coach still had his full support after a historic top-flight campaign for the

‘Today is a day for celebration, because after thirty years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again, a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion!’ the Greek businessman told his followers on social media.

‘With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game.