LAMOUCHI & HIS MARATHON MEN

Forest boss ran the distance in New York, and admits: The final 10 miles were so difficult. But I finished.. and we must keep going until the end

in 2010 in 4hr 26min 08 secs. Lamouchi, who took charge in June, said: “I remember the 10 miles before the end, it was so difficult. I stopped for two minutes to do some stretching because I was ready to die.

“But I finished it and we will finish, but in which position?

“This competition is a like a marathon, so long and so difficult and so tough every week.

“Sometimes I wake up and I don’t know what day it is. We have 16 finals and we must be ready for each one. We will try until the end to make the dream true.

“But as a manager I can’t talk about promotion because after 21 years you can’t focus only on that.

“The players have done a fantastic job up until now.

“What I am saying to them is, ‘It has been fantastic but what you can and must do now will be amazing for the rest of your lives’.

“This team, my players, deserve more points. But we made some mistakes and I don’t want at the end to cry because we lost promotion because of one point or one goal.”

The club’s next three fixtures against Leeds, at home to Charlton on Tuesday and away to leaders West Brom next Saturday are crucial. And Lamouchi has urged

Forest to respond after they blew a 1-0 lead at Birmingham City, going on to a painful 2-1 defeat.

“I was so upset in Birmingham,” admitted Lamouchi who, remarkably, is set to become the first Forest boss since Billy Davies in 2010/2011 to complete a whole season in charge.

“I said the truth, but it’s like I say the truth to my kids. It was stronger than you imagine, but only because I love them.

“They need to believe more in themselves because they have the quality.”

Lewis Grabban missed a penalty and the chance to put Forest two goals up at St Andrew’s, leaving Lamouchi distinctly unimpressed.

But he insists his experienced striker is staying on spot-kicks – and hopes he gets a chance to atone today.

Lamouchi revealed: “He was probably more upset than me.

“I said to him, ‘You can’t shoot the penalty like this, it was so bad. But you can’t take all the responsibility either, because we are where we are because you have scored a lot of goals’.

“He is our striker, he scores a lot of goals and he is a leader on the pitch.

“The next one he will shoot and he will score. Maybe against Leeds.”