Head coach Steve Cooper spoke of his pride as he reflected on an impressive 4-1 victory for Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.
Goals from Philip Zinckernagel, Brennan Johnson, Joe Worrall and Djed Spence knocked out holders Leicester City in a thrilling fourth round tie.
A superb team performance came in front of a packed-out City Ground as the Reds backed up their previous win in the competition, over Arsenal, with another Premier League scalp.
And incredible support was matched by a stunning display from the hosts, setting up a home tie with Huddersfield Town in the next round.
“The supporters are amazing,” said Cooper. “Okay, the BBC are here and there’s more people watching. But the reality is it’s like this all the time when we play well. It’s not new to us.
“There was a bit more on it, with it being a local rivalry and that sort of stuff.
“But the better the connection between the supporters and the players, the stronger we can be as a club. Days like today can help that.
“I’m proud of the team and proud of the club. But if we want to be a real proper team with a real winning mentality, then we have to get ready for the next game. That’s the only thing I’m thinking about.
“I talked to the players about it being Leicester and about there being a bit of a rivalry. It matters. It matters.
“This is a huge club with great tradition and history, and a global fanbase. There’s a lot of people wanting the team to do well - never more so than against a local rival.
“It’s important they always understand the context to a game, but then focus on what it takes to win. We did that really well.”
Forest were thoroughly deserving of their thumping result, and they had chances to add more to their tally.
Poor play by goalkeeper Brice Samba was the only blot on the copybook as he allowed Kelechi Iheanacho to pull one back before the break.
Cooper, though, insists his players can’t get too caught up in the celebrations as they prepare for a trip to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night.
“We were good for the result. I thought the performance matched it. In the first half, some of our attacking play was excellent - scoring three, hitting the bar and had chances from set-plays,” said the Welshman. “Dare I say it, it could have been more.
“Conceding was unnecessary. But what I liked about it was, after conceding we didn’t let it bother our momentum and our rhythm. That’s a real good sign of our focus and our mentality.
“The second half was always going to be a little bit different. It wasn’t about seeing out the game, it was just always going to be a little bit deeper in the mid-block. But the guys were brilliant in our mid-block strategy.
“And we still looked a threat in the second half. Djed’s scored, Brennan’s had a chance and Max Lowe has had a chance. The lads were brilliant.
“We spoke about the Arsenal game, and I talked about the second half. The first half, we didn’t play with enough belief and it was a bit of an average game. At half-time we’d said to the lads, ‘we’re better than this’.
“Today, I asked them to do that from the start, and they did.
“We’ve come up against a high calibre team. We set up well, and we had the belief - as individuals and as a team - to go play well.
“We’ll enjoy it now, but I’ve told the lads, as soon as they leave they’ve got to start thinking about Wednesday night. That’s got to be the focus now.”
