MCKENNA: WE MUST CUT OUT SLOPPY MISTAKES
CENTRE-BACK Scott Mckenna says Nottingham Forest must quickly learn to heed defensive warning signs, if they are to bounce back from two defeats.
Boss Chris Hughton pointed to two “poor goals” as his team were beaten 2-1 by Bournemouth on Saturday - having lost to Coventry City by the same scoreline the previous week.
Mckenna’s header had drawn the Reds level at the City Ground, following David Brooks’ opener. But Phil Billing restored the Cherries’ advantage barely 10 minutes later.
And even though Brooks was sent off on the hour, the hosts were unable to find another breakthrough.
Being solid at the back was something Hughton had placed much emphasis on after he took charge last October. Forest now need to get back to that as they prepare to host Blackburn Rovers tomorrow night.
“In the first game, we weren’t strong enough - conceding from crosses into the box cost us,” Mckenna told the Nottingham Post. “We need to be stronger, we need to stand up to that.
“On Saturday, it was not matching runners at the right time; not learning our lessons from the warnings we got early in the game.
“We can’t keep giving up those opportunities.
“We need to be more switched on and stronger.
“The manner of the two goals we conceded (on Saturday) was disappointing, especially the second one after we’d worked hard to get back in the game.
“They went down to 10 men, and I thought we did a lot of the right things - getting the ball wide and getting crosses into the box. But they defended well.
“We need to find a way of breaking teams down when we’ve got that man advantage.”
Hughton’s side had started brightly in their first home league game back in front of a crowd.
And they tried to press their numerical advantage in the final half hour.
“We can’t keep saying week in, week out, ‘there are positives to take.’ Ultimately, we’re here to win points,” Mckenna said.
“When you get back to 1-1, it should never be a case of trying to get back in the game again and leaving with a point.
“It should be a point, minimum, and disappointed with not getting three.
“That’s the difference between the top teams in this league and where we find ourselves right now.
“We started the game pretty well, knocking it about well. They did give us a couple of warnings.
“But when you’ve got away with that and ridden your luck, that’s when you need to switch on and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“Unfortunately, we dropped runners twice and they got goals from that, which is disappointing.
“We’ve got a game on Wednesday night and we need to try to bounce back.
“We did a lot of things right. Hopefully if we do that again, but cut out the sloppy mistakes, we can come away with the three points.
“We just need to bounce back as best we can.”
Mckenna is in his second season Trentside, after making the move from Aberdeen last summer.
With games being played in empty stadiums since March 2020, last week was the 24-year-old’s first experience of a packed City Ground.
And his parents had also made the trip down from north of the border to watch.
“I’m very happy to have scored, in front of the fans as well. My mum and dad were down, too,” said the defender.
“It was nice they managed to get down for the game, and for me to play in front of the fans. It’s the first time they (his parents) have had chance to see me playing for Forest, because no-one was allowed in last year. It was nice.
“But when you score goals, you want a positive result - unfortunately, it wasn’t.”
A glimmer of light amid the result, though, was the performance of debutant Jordi Osei-tutu - as well as the display of fellow summer signing Philip Zinckernagel.
A right-back by trade, Osei-tutu was drafted in to play on the left on Saturday amid a dearth of options in that position.
But the Arsenal loanee was nevertheless awarded man of the match.
“I thought he was excellent,” said Mckenna.
“It’s very difficult playing left fullback when you’re right-footed but he used it to his advantage. He managed to cut inside several times and beat some of their players.
“He got us up the pitch time and time again. And defensively he was solid. I think he can be very happy with how his debut went.”