Sean Dyche saw his Nottingham Forest team beaten for the first time in five games in all competitions as Brighton won 2-0 at the City Ground.
It offered a stark reminder to the Reds that there is still work to do in order to pull clear of the relegation zone, and it’s no time to be taking their foot off the gas.
Wins over Leeds and Liverpool in recent weeks had seen the Reds escape the bottom three, but this was a reality check for any supporter who was convinced Forest would be just fine this season.
Dyche has hinted at changes for the clash with Wolves, and now, it’s a firm case of back to the drawing board for the Forest head coach and his management staff.
Sean Dyche makes a subtle dig towards Ange Postecoglou
The tenure of Postecoglou won’t live long in the memory of anyone at Forest and if anything, he’s up there with Alex McLeish for the title of Worst Manager in the history of Nottingham Forest.
Who was your Forest Man of the Match vs Brighton
Postecoglou failed to win any of his games in charge of the club and Dyche has done remarkably well to turn things around with the same resources as the Australian.
It would appear that Dyche has picked up some of the issues that Postecoglou might have been responsible for, suggesting that his team aren’t currently up to his required fitness levels.
He told BBC after losing to Brighton: “The injury list has not been right since before my time, we need to get them back fit, The edge the players are playing with, and sharpness, has been pleasing. We have been scoring goals too. But today goes to show you’ve got to continue with the basics constantly, 95 minutes of football, you’ve got to stay focused on the basics. The first goal is a basic team shape error that can’t afford to happen.
“There have been some good signs; it would be harsh if they (the fans) had questioned the team after what they’ve seen (in recent games).
“We were below our minimum level in the first 20 minutes, but we kept a clean sheet during that period, which gave us time to get back in the game. I must commend the players for that; they are throwing themselves at it, throwing bodies and getting in blocks. Once we regrouped in the first half, it was a solid performance.”
Forest need Murillo back quickly
The hope will be that the decision not to play Murillo against Brighton was solely down to how close Sunday’s game was to Thursday’s against Malmo.
The Brazilian massively impacts the way in which Forest play and the defensive unit as a whole suffers when Murillo’s pace isn’t evident.
Hopefully, with the games now coming thick and fast, the Reds can welcome Murillo back on Wednesday and then have him in the team to head to Everton’s new ground on Saturday.
Morato does a job, but much like Nikola Milenkovic, he lacks a degree of pace, which isn’t ideal when it comes to playing against teams boasting plenty of that element, like Brighton.
Postecoglou’s methods were clearly detrimental on the training ground, and Dyche’s comments suggesting that fitness is a problem is quite obviously a little dig at the former boss.
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