Forest boss picks wrong team & Jamal makes him pay
SABRI LAMOUCHI admitted he got his team selection wrong after Jamal Lowe’s first goal for Wigan ended Nottingham Forest’s 10-game unbeaten league run.
Lowe, signed from Portsmouth in the summer, had to wait until his 12th appearance to break his duck to earn Paul Cook’s team a fully deserved victory .
That left Lamouchi under scrutiny for making five changes from the team that beat Brentford last time out.
His most surprising change was to leave leading scorer Lewis Grabban on the bench as well as record signing Joao Carvalho and Tiago Silva.
The changes backfired badly as Forest lost for the first time since the opening day of the season. Rafael Mir, who came in for Grabban, was the biggest culprit, missing three good openings.
But when Grabban was introduced to loud cheers from the Forest fans, he missed their best chance as they failed to score for the first time this season.
Lamouchi said: “I don’t regret making the changes, absolutely not.
“I thought it was the best line-up for the game but when you see the mistakes we made it was also a mistake on my part, probably.
“Especially the first half an hour, we started the right way.
“We made one mistake to give them the opportunity to score and they scored. We created a lot of chances after that and missed a lot. A draw was the more logical result.”
Lamouchi’s frustration was compounded by what looked a clear penalty in the first half when Sammy Ameobi was brought down by Antonee Robinson. The Forest manager’s heated protests saw him kick over a water bottle and earn a yellow card from referee Matt Donohue.
Lamouchi also claimed Joe Lolley should have had a spotkick in the second half although replays showed that incident was outside the box.
“They were two clear penalties,” he added. “It is not the first time this season but two in one game is too much. Maybe we will receive a report from the referees in a month’s time to say it was a mistake.”
Forest were so toothless in front of goal Wigan keeper David Marshall did not have to make a serious save.
The only goal came after a quick Wigan break, Lowe looked to have over-hit his pass but Gavin Massey managed to hook the ball into the six-yard box for Lowe to squeeze between two defenders and nudge it home.
Wigan nearly went two-up before the break when Charlie Mulgrew’s curling free-kick hit the base of the far post.
Forest dominated the second half but failed to find the cutting edge despite a big improvement after Grabban, Silva and Carvalho were sent on. Grabban looked certain to score but sent an unmarked header straight at Marshall.
Only two fine saves from keeper Brice Samba, from sub Kal Naismith, prevented Wigan from winning by a bigger margin.
Lowe, whose baby daughter was Wigan’s mascot, said: “I’ve been waiting for it for a while but the patience has been there. I’ve been getting into the right positions and thankfully one went in today.”
The result underlines Wigan’s impressive home form, just one defeat in their last 16 League games, but their failure to match it on the road continues to mystify boss Paul Cook.ß
“It was a great result but more importantly, it was a great performance,” said Cook.
“If we could only improve our away form it would see us get to a position that I’m sure everyone at this club would be absolutely delighted with.”
Marshall 6, Byrne 6, Dunkley 6, Mulgrew 6, Robinson 6, Macleod 6, Williams 6, Jacobs 6, Massey 7 (Windass 65, 6), Lowe 8 (Naismith 64, 5), Moore 7 (Pilkington 90)
Samba 6, Cash 6, Figueirido 6, Worrall, Robinson 6 (Carvalho 71, 6), Ribeiro 6, Bostock 5 (Silva 55, 6), Watson 7, Lolley 7, Ameobi 7, Mir 5 (Grabban 55, 6)