Sean Dyche is being slammed by Forest fans after very awkward comment in post-match interview after Leeds defeat

Sean Dyche makes ‘awful’ Nottingham Forest admission after dismal Leeds United defeat

Head coach Sean Dyche rued being without some key players as Nottingham Forest suffered a 3-1 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road.

The Reds squandered the chance to move nine points clear of the relegation zone as they were well beaten at Elland Road. Instead, it was their opponents who earned that cushion courtesy of goals from Jayden Bogle, Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Debutant Lorenzo Lucca pulled one back for the visitors late on, but in general it was a night to forget for Dyche’s charges. They were without suspended full-back Neco Williams, while Matz Sels (groin) and centre-back Murillo (calf) were both injured – the latter sustaining the problem in training on Thursday.

“We knew they would have a fast start, we’d made that clear to the players. We weathered that OK,” Dyche said in his post-match press conference.

“We were having our best spell, but then it was a poor goal. That’s very frustrating for me as a manager.

“We did get the injury news on Murillo after training, so by then you can’t do any more, that’s it. He’s out of the game so we didn’t have any time to work with the defensive unit, but they are still wise enough to know the basics – and we didn’t do that.”

“It’s different away from home and at home the way they put the energy into the games,” Dyche added (via the BBC). “The killer for us was giving away the goal.

“We responded somewhat and then they score a second. I said at half-time we’ve got to rethink. Then we conceded really quickly and the third goal is awful as well. There’s no qualms about the result, they were better than us.”

We’ve had late changes which is not perfect. You’ve got to do the basics and we didn’t do them. The goals are awful from our standards. You can’t give away chances like that at this level.

“The mentality was good at the end, we were still pushing, but it would have been getting out of jail. Our performance wasn’t there.”

We all know their form and what you’ve got to do. We’ve dealt with other teams better than we’ve dealt with them today. We were turning the game and it’s just such a poor first goal. We concede a very straightforward goal, then the second and you’re stretching your head. I’ve got no question mark over the result, they deserved it.”

Forest did have a positive spell during the first half. But unable to make the most of their chances, they were punished by their hosts.

“That’s the truth of football. It’s ifs and ands after the game,” Dyche said. “We had two really good chances and didn’t put them away, that can happen. I’m just so frustrated with the goal. The basic principles went out the window.”

What did you make of Forest’s defeat to Leeds?