Every word Nuno said on Nottingham Forest injuries, selection decisions and Aston Villa defeat
Injury-hit Nottingham Forest showed their fighting spirit, just not their clinical edge as they fell 2-1 away to Aston Villa in Saturday’s Premier League clash.
A nightmare start saw the Reds concede twice in the space of two minutes as Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen made it 2-0 to the hosts with 15 minutes played. The visitors responded and reduced the deficit through Jota Silva, but they were left to rue a string of missed chances as they fell to defeat.
It brought an end to a six-match unbeaten run in all competitions for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, although they remain third in the table. Below is a look at what the Forest head coach had to say after the final whistle at Villa Park.
On missed chances…
“It was probably one of the matches where we created more chances. We are disappointed not only with the chances we created but didn’t score, but also with the way we started the game.
“We didn’t start so good. We were much better in the second half but the feeling is one of disappointment.”
On a strong second half…
“We tried to make adjustments (at half-time) to help the players feel more comfortable on the pitch. In the first half, we were not able to control or to dominate. Villa broke us over and over again.
“At half-time, we tried to adjust. It worked out in terms of how the players performed in the second half.”
On whether tiredness is creeping in…
“If you look at the second half, you cannot say we were tired because we performed. I don’t think it is the big issue. It was more about the individual duels where normally we are stronger, but we were not so strong in the first half.”
On what went wrong in the first 15 minutes…
“This is the game. I should be fair with what happened and if I say something it would not be fair.”
On Taiwo Awoniyi’s absence…
“He felt his hamstring in the game. When I spoke to you on Thursday, I already knew. I am sorry I didn’t tell you. We are going to have to assess day by day, him and Chris (Wood), to see if they can help us in the next one.”
On Wood’s recovery…
“It is day by day. He is improving.
“Let’s see about the results of the scan on T, then we’ll have a better opinion. It is going to be assessing day by day.”
On why Anthony Elanga came off at half-time…
“He didn’t feel comfortable. Unfortunately we have to scan another player. Hopefully it is nothing.
“We have to see (what the injury is). Hopefully we will have more information in a couple of days.”
On whether the result might have been different with strikers on the pitch…
“You never know. What we tried was to try to find solutions.
“For me, football is strikers. We missed Chris and we missed T, because the way we play and the way we do things we need a reference player. It is very hard on Anthony (Elanga), Callum (Hudson-Odoi), Jota (Silva) and (Ramon) Sosa to do the same. It is not the same.”
On selection decisions…
“It was the same shape as we finished against (Manchester) United, with different personnel. The idea was to have an extra body in the last line that could close the gaps.
“We had Nico (Dominguez) on the right side to create overload when he comes inside. Many things that we tried.
“At the same time, not having a reference man up top meant the way we pressed and controlled was not the same. A lot of things went into our thinking.”
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