Nottingham Forest have dismissed reports of a heated confrontation between owner Evangelos Marinakis and manager Nuno Espirito Santo after their 2-2 Premier League draw with Leicester City as "fake news," the club said on Tuesday.
Sunday's draw left Forest seventh in the table with their Champions League hopes slipping away and although they secured a return to Europe for the first time in 30 years, Marinakis appeared to be fuming when he came onto the pitch and spoke to the manager after the fulltime whistle.
Espirito Santo said on Sunday that the incident was due to Marinakis's frustration over injured striker Taiwo Awoniyi not being substituted. The Forest manager added that the Nigeria international was left on due to a misunderstanding between the coaching and medical departments.
The Greek shipping magnate was criticised for his actions following the match, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville saying Espirito Santo should leave the club.
Forest, however, said in a statement on Tuesday that there was no confrontation and described the backlash directed at Marinakis as "baseless."
"There was only shared frustration between all of us that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue," the club added in a statement.
"In light of this, we urge former coaches and players, and other public figures in the game, to resist the urge to rush to judgement and fake news online, especially when they do not have the full facts and context.
"Baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction serves no one -- least of all the injured player."
Forest said on Tuesday that Awoniyi had undergone urgent surgery for the abdominal injury he suffered in the match and later confirmed he was recovering well.
"Everyone at Nottingham Forest sends their best wishes to Taiwo," Forest posted on X.
Forest, a point behind fifth-placed Chelsea, visit West Ham United on Sunday.