Roy Keane highlights Nottingham Forest ‘problem’ during Man City defeat, it’s cost them already this season

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Nottingham Forest weren’t able to overcome Man City in the FA Cup semi-final, and Roy Keane thinks he may know why.

Despite having already enjoyed success against the Citizens earlier this season, the City Ground outfit failed to lay a glove on their opponents, with a number of Forest players disappointing at Wembley.

Pep Guardiola’s side managed to get themselves in front early on through Rico Lewis and were never really troubled from that point on, barring a couple scares from Morgan Gibbs-White.

Forest have struggled to come from behind in games this season, and that would again be the case at Wembley – a worrying trend which Roy Keane was keen to highlight post-match.

• READ MORE: Zach Abbott received ‘fantastic’ message from Nottingham Forest teammate prior to surprise FA Cup semi-final call-up

Roy Keane speaks on Nottingham Forest comeback issue

Barring the positive performance of Zach Abbott, Forest will soon want to forget about the disappointment of their Wembley trip.

One thing the Forest coaching staff simply must reflect on, however, is their concerning record when going behind in games.

For example, the last seven times Forest have conceded first in a game, they have ultimately failed to come back and win, something which will no doubt worry Nuno Espirito Santo.

Speaking on ITV Sport post-match, Forest legend Keane spoke on his former side’s inability to win from a losing position.

“The problem with Forest is that when they get the first goal in games it’s fantastic because they can sit in. But as soon as they go a goal down and end up chasing the game, they are nowhere near as good as when they sit in and play on the counterattack. It’s been a problem all season for them.”

Lack of possession may be costing Nottingham Forest

As Keane mentioned, it seems like Forest struggle to impose themselves when they are forced into chasing games. The main reason for this could be down to their lack of possession.

Forest thrive on being able to sit back and counterattack teams, something which is shown by their minimal possession stats, ranking as the lowest in the Premier League this season.

Despite their success with low possession, recent weeks have saw Forest start to realise the downside of their approach, regularly being unable to get themselves back into games when their opponents are sitting back themselves, defending a lead.

With possible European football on the cards next season, Espirito Santo and Forest may have to slightly alter their approach or potentially face being found out by their opponents.