Nuno Espirito Santo says the Nottingham Forest trio of Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Elliot Anderson must continue to impress to earn an England call-up.

Nuno watched on as his side tightened their grip on third place with a 4-2 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday, with all three players impressing at Portman Road. 

But ahead of the final international break of the season, many were surprised to see no players from the Forest camp involved in Thomas Tuchel's first Three Lions squad. 

Gibbs-White earned his first two England caps under interim boss Lee Carsley last year, and was expected to be involved this time around, but missed out. 

The midfielder was a pivotal figure in Forest's triumph against Ipswich, creating more chances (three) than any of his team-mates, while also grabbing an assist for Jota Silva. 

Indeed, Gibbs-White registered his 40th Premier League goal involvement for Forest in this game (15 goals, 25 assists), overtaking Bryan Roy (39). 

Only Ian Woan (44) has more combined goals and assists for the club in the competition, while Hudson-Odoi has seven goal involvements (five goals, three assists) this term. 

Anderson, meanwhile, topped the metrics for accurate passes (36), duels won (five) and possession won (five) for the visitors on Saturday. 

"What they have to do is what they did today - work and play good," Nuno said. "For sure, the next chance will be in front of them.

"What they have to do is stay focused and stay humble. For sure, Tuchel will look at our players and take them because they are talented players, and they can help England. 

"I didn't have to speak to them about it. I think they are experienced enough to realise that in this world of football, there are decisions to be made and respect to those who make the decisions."

A six-minute surge in the first half proved pivotal for Forest, with Nikola Milenkovic and a first Premier League brace from Anthony Elanga putting the visitors firmly in control. 

Silva's strike, meanwhile, was sandwiched in between Jens Cajuste's fine strike and substitute George Hirst's well-taken header for the hosts, but Nuno said the damage had been done. 

"We got that moment right. We got Ipswich unbalanced and took advantage of it," the head coach added. 

"Ipswich were always going to react. It was important for us to get the fourth goal after they scored to really put the game to bed. They have character and are intense. It was tough."

As for Ipswich, they remain the only side across the top four tiers of English football without a league win in 2025, with their Premier League status now at risk. 

Their defeat was not helped by 17th-place Wolves' 2-1 victory over Southampton, with the Tractor Boys now nine points adrift of Vitor Pereira's side. 

Kieran McKenna was defiant in the face of adversity, but did acknowledge that his team must pick up points quickly if they are to avoid an immediate return to the Championship. 

"There is a pretty big gap there, and we can only focus on ourselves," he said. "We have two big games after the international break, and we need to be ready for those and ready to compete.

 "It is possible. We are running out of games. We need to take points soon, we know that, but we are certainly not going to give up hope or stop fighting until the last game is done."