Neil throws down half-time gauntlet

to want it more than Forest. It is crucial to get that first goal. But, if you do not get it, you cannot just let yourself go out with a whimper. You have to fight for it.

“I asked them for that and they gave me that and more. I thought in the second 45 minutes our performance was much better.

“All you can ask for is for players to respond to negativity, to bounce back against challenges like being 1-0 down at half time.

“The response we saw from the players was really, really good. We did not ride our luck, we were really good. They had one clear header – which is why we put more height Possession 52% 48% Shots On Target 2 8 Shots Off Target 8 6 Blocked Shots 1 4 Corners 5 9 Fouls Conceded 10 14 Offsides 4 2 Yellow Cards 2 1 Red Cards 0 0 into our side off the bench late on.” Red coach Philippe Montanier (below with Neil) was disappointed to see his side slip to their first home defeat of the season – and also the manner of their performance.

“I was disappointed because we have lost for the first time at home and we had been winning 1-0 at half time,” said Montanier. “Norwich are one of the top teams in the Championship and we needed to be at a higher level.

“We were a little timid with the ball and also in defence. We made things too easy for them.

“After the penalty save we had a good reaction and we took the lead. We wanted to keep playing in the same way.

“We had a good reaction right at the end, but we wanted to see that before the end of the game.

“We wanted that reaction before we saw it. We did not put our opportunities away. We did not choose our passes well. We did not create enough opportunities to score.

“It is disappointing but our performance was not sufficient against a good team like Norwich.”