‘Forest don’t stop for red’
SABRI LAMOUCHI made no attempt to excuse the Ryan Yates challenge that left Nottingham Forest to play more than half an hour with 10 men.
Instead, the visiting boss backed referee Craig Pawson for punishing the lunging 56th-minute challenge on Adam Nagy and praised the spirit of his players in surviving the setback against fellow promotion contenders.
Boss Lamouchi said: “Ryan has made a mistake with his tackle and I could see why the red card was shown.
“It was not an aggressive challenge, but more the result of enthusiasm, which isn’t a bad thing to see in a young player.
“Ryan was very angry and upset with himself after the game as he knew what he did could have cost us an important result.
“But the important thing is that he learns from it.
“Today the other players have made sure we didn’t lose with 10 men and I am so proud of them for that.”
Forest had looked the better side until the sending-off, but then had to survive late pressure from opponents throwing caution to the wind.
Tommy Rowe and substitute Rodri wasted great late chances to clinch City all three points, who hit a post on 55 minutes through Andreas
Weimann’s deflected cross.
But Forest could also point to a bad miss by
Lewis Grabban when he volleyed wide on 73 minutes with only keeper Dan Bentley to beat.
Robins boss Lee Johnson said: “I didn’t get a clear view of the sending-off, but I’m told it was a two-footed challenge, so I don’t think they could have any complaints.
“Forest are a very good side and I expect them to be up there challenging when it matters most. We lacked a bit with our end product today, but overall I was delighted with the performance.
“A number of our lads only got back from international duty on Thursday, yet there was no sign of any tiredness or lapses in concentration.
“We tweaked one or two things tactically at halftime, which had an effect, and in the second half we got into some great positions without testing their goalkeeper enough.
“That was the one disappointment. But we are gradually getting key players back from injury and there is a lot to look forward to.
“The players are giving me everything.”
BRISTOLCITY NFOREST 0 ........ Shots on Target ......... 3 7 ........ Shots off Target ......... 2 6 ................Corners .................6 15 ................. Fouls .................. 13 2 ............... Offsides ................. 2 83.3 .. Passing Success % ... 72.3 492....... Total Passes ......... 314 61 ......... Possession % ........ 39 56.5 .. Territorial Adv % .... 43.5