Nottingham Forest have now gone four games without a win after throwing away a 1-0 lead to draw 1-1 with play-off chasing Reading.
Sammy Ameobi played a huge part in Forest’s goal as he played a ball across goal, which was then turned into his own net by Tom Holmes.
However, reading responded well and repeatedly started banging on the door, although their equaliser came in fortuitous fashion as an error from Brice Samba allowed Yakou Meite to score.
After Forest fail to beat a top six side yet again, here are four things that we learnt…
Joe Lolley still can’t catch a break
Popular winger Lolley was afforded a rare start against the Royals, but sadly for him, his game lasted 33 minutes before injury.
It was a cruel blow as Lolley, starting on the left wing, was getting into his stride and showing us all what he was capable of.
He looked very much like his older self, jinking past players for fun and came very close to scoring as well, as a right footed effort just went past the post.
However, after embarking on another mazy run, Lolley pulled up with a hamstring injury and Chris Hughton will be hoping it will mean his winger is out for weeks, rather than months.
Ameobi makes his point
For the pre-match press conferences, Ameobi was wheeled out and said that he knows he has to be more consistent if he is to get another contract at Forest.
He certainly reminded everyone of what he is capable of against Reading as he put in the pass for the goal and came incredibly close to getting on the scoresheet himself, which really highlighted just how good Ameobi can be on his day.
Ameobi skipped past Bayern Munich bound Omar Richards with ease, ran towards goal and played a pass that was physically impossible for Glenn Murray miss – although Reading’s Tom Holmes got there first for an own goal.
As it was an own goal, it denied him what would’ve been only his second assist of the season, but that stat alone backs up Ameobi’s point in his pre-match interview.
However, performances like that will in theory be rewarded with assists and goals, so while Ameobi does need to work on his consistency and back this up, he’s certainly showing intent to stay.
Third choice striker made very apparent
As expected after 70 minutes, Murray was brought off, but what was interesting was that it was Lewis Grabban on his return from injury that was brought on, instead of Lyle Taylor.
Taylor can consider himself very unlucky given that he played very well in his cameo appearance against Watford, which was the perfect way to bounce back after a poor display against Luton Town.
However, this apparently wasn’t enough to convince Hughton that he should be coming on ahead of Grabban.
It now is very clear that Taylor is the third choice striker at the club – despite being the top scorer – and it will be interesting to see whether Taylor can jostle for a better position over the coming weeks.
Forest gift away points again
Once again architects of their own downfall, Forest allowed a very wasteful Reading to leave Nottingham with a share of the points.
After a sustained spell of Reading pressure, goalkeeper Brice Samba seemed to jump over a hopeful shot from Yakou Meite and that was enough to secure a point for the visitors.
It was ironic in the sense that Reading spurned some glorious chances and then scored a total fluke, but that will infuriate Forest as yet again, individual mistakes have cost them.
It is something that Hughton really needs to look at ironing out, though how he does that remains to be seen.
Is this a good point or a bad point for Nottingham Forest following their draw with Reading?
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