Yahoo Sports Prime position for Europe - but how good could Forest's season get?
In a season where Nottingham Forest have defied expectations in the Premier League, manager Nuno Espirito Santo was again keen to play down their ambitions and keep his side focused.
When asked about the prospect of qualifying for the Champions League after victory over Southampton put them level on points with second-placed Arsenal, he just wanted to look at the next game.
"We can prepare for Bournemouth," said Nuno as he deliberately swerved the question. "We saw how well they did yesterday. It is going to be very tough."
Bournemouth's stunning 4-1 win at Newcastle stretched their club-record unbeaten league run to 10 games - and damaged the Tyneside club's own top-four hopes.
But with Forest unbeaten in eight matches, a run featuring seven wins and a draw with leaders Liverpool, the talk of taking on Europe's elite again is only going to grow louder.
Nuno's Forest are in prime position for Champions League qualification - but it could it be even more...
Are Forest title challengers?
It was tense in the end but Forest's 3-2 win against Southampton put them six points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
That looks a difficult gap for any team to close, but Nuno's side look best placed right now.
Arsenal continue to stutter and no team - not even Liverpool - can better Forest's 22 points since the start of December.
They also have the same number of points (44) as Leicester had at the same stage of their iconic Premier League title-winning season, although the Foxes were joint top at this point rather than attempting to make up a six-point deficit.
The only season Forest have had more points at this stage of a top-flight campaign was 1977-78 - the year they won the title under Brian Clough.
What about Europe?
Forest have not played in Europe since the 1995-96 season and have not been in the top-tier of European competition since 1980-81, but are in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League.
They are six points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle and seven ahead of Chelsea and Bournemouth in sixth and seventh.
The top four will definitely qualify for the Champions League next season but that could increase to five depending on English clubs' success in this year's competition.
That, and recent history suggests Forest are in a good position.
In each of the past four seasons - and six of the past seven campaigns, teams with 44 points or more after 22 games have gone on to finish in the top four.
Forest have also already played Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City away from home this season - three of their toughest fixtures.
Their next three games on the road - visits to fellow European chasers Bournemouth, Fulham and Newcastle - look crucial.
'Taking it step by step and being humble'
One word of caution for Forest comes from their underlying data.
Nuno's side continue to outperform their expected goals - the metric used to assess the quality of a chance.
Their xG across the season is 28 goals - only the 15th best tally in the league - but they have managed 33.
Similarly, their expected goals against is 25 yet they have conceded 22.
That suggests Forest are picking up more points than the data expects, but could also be put down to an in-form striker and high-quality goalkeeper - something Forest certainly have in Chris Wood and Matz Sels respectively.
Defender Ola Aina followed Nuno's stance as he said the club will not get ahead of themselves in the coming weeks.
"It is taking it step by step, being humble and working hard for each other and making sure that we are doing the right things to win football matches," he said after the victory against bottom club Southampton.
What about the bottom?
Southampton, meanwhile, are having no such luck.
They have just six points from their 22 games - 10 points off safety - and remain on course to record the worst points tally in Premier League history.
The current record holders are Derby, who managed only 11 points in the 2007-08 season.
The Rams had seven at this stage and managed only four draws and 12 defeats in the rest of the campaign.
Southampton have also made little improvement since the appointment of manager Ivan Juric in December, losing all five league matches since the Croatian replaced Russell Martin.
