Britt of a close call but Forest hang on
BRITT ASSOMBALONGA’S double earned Nottingham Forest a crucial victory after Reading threatened a comeback at the City Ground.
Assombalonga struck either side of half-time before Mustapha Carayol put the Reds three-up by the 54th minute.
Jaap Stam’s promotion contenders almost staged a dramatic recovery as goals in the 58th and 74th minutes from Yann Kermorgant gave the visitors hope.
But struggling Forest held on to lift themselves three points clear of third-frombottom Blackburn in the battle to beat the drop.
Forest created a host of early chances before the opening goal finally came when Ben Brereton slid a perfect pass through to the feet of Assombalonga, who scored in the 31st minute.
Forest had to wait barely a minute in the second half before they scored again when Assombalonga headed his second.
And it was three when a quick throw-in from Danny Fox found Carayol in the box and he dodged two defenders before firing a powerful low shot beyond Ali Al Habsi.
The Royals added to the drama when they pulled one back in the 58th minute when Kermorgant headed home off the underside of the bar.
The same player then volleyed in another and the Royals scented an equaliser but Forest held on for a crucial win.
Forest boss Mark Warburton said: “I thought we deserved the three points. The quality, desire and intensity in the first hour especially was very good.
“The only negative at half-time was only being one-up – the way we came out and played I thought we deserved more.
“Our desire to secure Championship status had to be better than their desire to get promotion.”
Stam said: “We were poor today – we weren’t aggressive enough in how we started the game.
“We knew what to expect here because they needed the win to help them stay up and they were right on top of us and didn’t give us a lot of time on the ball.”