Etheridge KO no one’s fault says Bowyer
A SICKENING collision which left Birmingham keeper Neil Etheridge unconscious marred this victory for Forest as they maintained their challenge for an automatic promotion place.
Etheridge was carried off on a stretcher in the 70th minute after he collided with Djed Spence.
‘He has gone to hospital, so he is in the right place,’ said Birmingham head coach Lee Bowyer.
‘Some part of Spence’s body hit Neil in his head and he was knocked out. It was a coming together between two committed players going for the ball. There was no malice there, it was just an unfortunate incident.
‘It was worrying, because he was not moving. We hope he is OK, we are waiting for good news.’
Forest boss Steve Cooper refused to discuss the prospect of chasing down Bournemouth for second place in the Championship, after this result closed the gap to six points.
His side are now unbeaten in 10 Championship games and have won five in a row, after goals from Keinan Davis and Scott McKenna propelled them to another success.
But despite seeing his side climb into third place, Cooper maintained the same mantra that he has done all season — insisting nobody within the Forest ranks would be allowed to look beyond the trip to face play-off rivals Luton on Friday.
‘We have the chance now to recharge and go into another two games in four days,’ said Cooper, when asked if Forest could push for automatic promotion.
‘We will not look any further than Luton. I will not look at anything else. We will focus on the things we are in control of. Our recovery, our preparation and our performance against Luton.
‘The rest of it is just motivation, that is all. We keep our heads down, we work hard and we prepare for another game next weekend.’ Forest followed up on a thumping 4-1 win at Blackpool and a 2-0 home success over Coventry, by taking the lead after only five minutes, as Davis capped a powerful run with an angled finish.
Their second came 11 minutes from the end, when McKenna attacked a precise James Garner corner. ‘I think we have been good for what we have got throughout the week and we were certainly good for the win,’ said Cooper. ‘The nine points we have picked up have been well deserved.’
Coventry boss Mark Robins had expressed his envy at the Forest firepower in midweek, with Sam Surridge, Joe Lolley and Lewis Grabban all coming off the bench. Bowyer echoed those sentiments.
‘If you take the goal away, we were the better side in the first half,’ he said. ‘We asked a lot of questions of them, but we just lacked a little quality. That was the difference on the day.
‘Once they got the second goal it was game over. But until that went in, we kept pushing, we kept trying. But the difference was that they had more quality than we did. That is what wins you games.
‘For much of the season we have had the same problem. We fought well, we gave them problems — but it is just that final bit.’