Ipswich 2-4 Nottingham Forest: Anthony Elanga shines as guests close to Champions League dream – as Nuno Espirito Santo makes England declare for missed stars, writes Matt Barlow

East Anglian outposts like these are no longer the limit of Nottingham Forest‘s travel plans.

They are bound for European competition once again, for the first time in 30 years. Quite possibly in the Champions League, and three thousand jubilant away fans filed out of Portman Road singing about the prospect, having seen their team swat Ipswich aside.

Nuno Espirito Santo‘s team have the confident swagger of a team who know what they are doing and where they are going.

They are prolific on the road, and they did not look back after scoring three goals in six first-half minutes, two from Anthony Elanga after the first from Nikola Milenkovic.

Forest’s fourth was converted by Jota Silva and assisted by Morgan Gibbs-White to the delight of those in the away end who had been serenading him as ‘England’s number 10‘ in protest at his omission from Thomas Tuchel‘s squad on Friday.

Here, Gibbs-White was deployed in a deeper role but was no less impressive. ‘One thing is his versatility,’ said Nuno. ‘Morgan can drop and give us another number six, which we don’t have. He has such ability on the ball, vision of the game and he can dictate tempo. He is a huge talent.’

Nottingham Forest strengthened their top-four credidivials with a 4-2 win at Ipswich

Nikola Milenkovic grabbed the first in the 35th minute after the hosts failed to clear their lines 

The same might be said for Elliot Anderson, Callum Hudson-Odoi and others in Forest red also overlooked by the new England manager.

‘They are all experienced enough to know that in football there are decisions to be made,’ added Nuno. ‘They respect those who make the decisions. What they all have to do is what they did – work hard and play good. Push Thomas to show they are talented players, and they can help England.’

Forest’s opener came via a corner needlessly conceded and poorly defended by Ipswich once Jacob Greaves had headed out the initial set piece.

Hudson-Odoi gathered the loose ball and clipped it to Nicolas Dominguez, who headed square and Liam Delap’s attempt to clear only nodded it down for Milenkovic, who took a touch and smashed his fourth of the season high into the net.

Forest quickly eased clear. The second was a sublime finish by Elanga, collecting a pass from Anderson, advancing at pace, jinking inside onto his left foot and shaping a low shot around Greaves and beyond keeper Alex Palmer.

It was Elanga’s first goal since Boxing Day and his next arrived in two minutes. Again, there was nothing remotely sophisticated about the build-up. Ipswich simply failed to deal with a long ball down the middle of the pitch. Elanga sped clear of Greaves and found the net with ease.

‘Three terrible goals from our point of view, especially the first and the third,’ said Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna. ‘That six-minute spell turns an even game into a near impossible task.’

Ipswich restored their balance after the interval. Omari Hutchison forced the first save from Matz Sels and Delap headed a terrific chance wide. Nuno switched to a back three at Elanga’s expense, although it did not produce a clean sheet.

Jens Cajuste reduced the deficit, rolling away from Ryan Yates and finding the top corner before Forest produced another classic counterattacking move from Yates to Gibbs-White before Jota applied the finish.

George Hirst headed in the game’s sixth in stoppage time, scant consolation as Wolves won at Southampton and left Ipswich nine points adrift with nine to play. The gap which feels terminal for a team without a league win this year.

‘The gap’s big, no doubt,’ said McKenna. ‘It’s not where we wanted to be. On the other hand, there’s a big week coming up when we come back, two games against Bournemouth and Wolves and things can change quickly.’