Forest punished and boss calls for reaction against Blues
HUGHTON FRUSTRATED AS UNBEATEN RUN ENDED
A FRUSTRATED and disappointed Chris Hughton made his feelings clear after Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town.
With four games to go, the Reds are still not mathematically assured of Championship safety – and they saw a four-match unbeaten run ended by the Terriers.
Unable to make the most of a bright start, Forest were punished by goals from Aaron Rowe and Juninho Bacuna either side of half-time.
Ahead of Wednesday night’s trip to Birmingham City, Hughton’s side are 16th in the table, 10 points above the bottom three.
And with some big transfer decisions to make in the summer, the Reds manager fired a clear warning to his players.
Here’s what he had to say after the full-time whistle at the City Ground.
■■What did you make of the result and performance?
“It was a hard day. We’re really disappointed, particularly after our last home performance. I was hoping we could replicate that.
“In the first 20 minutes I thought we did. We had a lot of the ball and dominated.
“I’m not sure how clear the chances were but I thought we had three good chances in that period.
“Probably, the result sums up a little bit of how we’ve been, which is that we have found it difficult to get goals.
“We have become a more resolute team and haven’t made too many mistakes recently. But we made two mistakes for the goals, which hasn’t been the case previously.
“We needed to show more to get back in the game, particularly after the second goal. It wasn’t our day today. We didn’t show enough.”
■■Were you punished for not taking your chances?
“We did get punished. “Huddersfield fought hard but when you’re 2-0 up, it’s a good position to be in.
“We were chasing. We got the ball into the final third a lot and got a lot of crosses in during that period but it’s about goals.
“If you don’t get your goals in that period, it strengthens the feeling Huddersfield have in the game.
“Then you’re looking at things like determination and quality in the final third.
“If we can’t get them, then we need to make sure we don’t make mistakes.
“It was two poor goals we conceded.”
■■Does it sum up how things have been this season?
“It probably sums up the overall season but it doesn’t sum up recent form – because we have been in really good form.
“If we haven’t been scoring lots of goals – which we haven’t done – then we haven’t been conceding either. That’s what’s got us points.
“I don’t think we could have started any better than we did but you’ve got to be able to capitalise on it.
“A goal at that time absolutely changes the game.
“They scored just before half-time and that gives them a real good lift going into the break.
“Then, going into the latter part of the second half, we were chasing the game.
“They are well organised and get bodies behind the ball, so you can leave yourself open to conceding more.
“I thought we gave it a good go in that last bit but didn’t really test the goalkeeper enough.”
■■You don’t want too many more results like that, do you?
“What the players are aware of is that it’s not acceptable to finish this season on a low.
“We want to finish the season in the best way possible. That’s what we’ve spoken about in the last few games.
“We are still in a position where mathematically we are not safe. The players are aware of that.
“We’ve got to make sure there is a reaction come Wednesday night, which will be a very difficult game at
Birmingham.”
■■How did James Garner respond after his error?
“I think he’s disappointed. That’s James.
“With the hole that opened up, I think he needed a little bit of help from other players in the team.
“He’s a young player, and young players feel that disappointment a little bit more.
“He’s a very popular player here; anybody consoling him afterwards, I think they’ll do that because he’s likeable.
“What I can tell you, if you’re assessing the goal, is when you’re in that position, you need people to help you out a bit – and he didn’t get that support he needed.”
■■Is there a danger of complacency creeping in? Did you see that today?
“It’s not one that I will accept. But there’s always that danger.
“There’s always that danger of being a team that have got a certain amount of points and feel you’re just going to run the season down.
“I desperately don’t want that to happen.
“We’ve all still got to make decisions about players in the summer.
“Apart from the obvious thing that in every game you play, you’re playing because that’s what you’re paid to do, that’s your job and you want to do the best you can.
“Also, every opportunity to play is an opportunity for me to see the qualities you’ve got.”