Nottingham Forest success may be no shock to Leeds United, Reading FC | OneFootball

Leeds United and Reading ought to be glad they don't have to worry about facing Nuno Espirito Santo-managed sides anymore

Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves side took the Championship by storm in 2017/18, romping to the title and finishing a whopping 11 points clear of third-place Fulham.

The good times kept rolling for Nuno in the Premier League with Wolves, as he guided them into Europe, but after a couple of turbulent managerial spells thereafter, he seems to have finally found a home with Nottingham Forest.

Forest themselves were in the Championship a matter of season ago, but under the tutelage of Nuno have now turned into European challengers in the opening stages of the Premier League campaign.

Naturally, there's still an awful long way to go in Forest's quest for European football, but there will undoubtedly be some Championship clubs who are just happy to see Nuno outside of the second tier as they bear the psychological scars of past meetings.

That's not a great surprise given he's only managed one Championship season and ended up winning the league, but two sides in particular may be glad to see that he's managing at the top level and not disturbing them.

While that season was a campaign filled with joy and celebration for Nuno and Wolves, the picture was much different for Reading and Leeds, who both finished that season in the bottom half of the table.

While that can't solely be attributed to their dismal showings against Wolves, it's fair to say that the bottom half duo didn't enjoy facing Wolves.

Leeds finished 13th that season, a whopping 15 points shy of the play-off places, which can largely be blamed on the fact the club were in a state of turmoil at the time, burning through managers and players.

Games against Nuno's Wolves certainly didn't help, as Leeds were beaten 4-1 at Molineux and 3-0 at Elland Road by the eventual league winners, and regardless of the state of affairs, being beaten 3-0 at Elland Road is a travesty.

The picture was even bleaker for Reading that season, who finished 20th, just three points above the bottom three, and their results against Nuno's side were just as bad.

The Royals went down 2-0 at home and 3-0 away that season, as they displayed signs of a hangover after the season prior's play-off final defeat.

Leeds and Reading's Nuno struggles weren't limited to that season

Leeds were presented a chance for vengeance a few seasons later when they dragged themselves up the Premier League and faced Nuno's Wolves side, but their pair of results were the same - two defeats - although you could argue the fact that both were by a 1-0 scoreline hinted at a little progress.

Reading only faced a Nuno-managed side once more after that pair of 2017/18 defeats, going down 5-3 in EFL Cup action, so they'll be delighted that the chances of them facing one of Nuno's sides are now limited to cup competitions only.

On the evidence Nuno presented against that pair, it's no surprise that his Forest side are now riding high in the Premier League, and they won't have been surprised when he had Wolves up there either.

That certainly goes against the grain, as most people are gobsmacked to have seen Forest fly out of the traps, particularly after their struggles of the last two seasons.

Although the pair will undoubtedly be relieved they haven't got to face a Nuno side in the coming weeks, it's certain that both would currently love the chance to, with Leeds aiming to get back into the top-flight, while Reading could only dream of having the chance to.