Steve Hodge slams one Nottingham Forest player after Everton win at the City Ground

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Nottingham Forest were beaten by Everton for the second time in December as they finished 2025 in the midst of a serious slump.

Forest beat Tottenham at the midway point of December and seemingly looked in good shape to really put daylight between them and the bottom three.

However, consecutive defeats to Fulham, Manchester City and now, Everton, have Forest firmly looking over their shoulder ahead of a seemingly impossible task at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Sean Dyche has seen the fans turn on him somewhat after this disastrous and his tactical ineptitude was once again highlighted in this drab defeat against Everton.

• READ MORE: Nottingham Forest player dismissed by Dyche after failing to get on vs Everton

Nottingham Forest star slammed by pundit

Everton’s second goal did come somewhat against the run of play, with Thierno Barry scoring his second goal of the season, with his first also coming against Forest earlier this month.

Although he finished well, the goal came from a moment of madness from Oleksandr Zinchenko, who simply switched off and let his man waltz through on goal.

Hodge was perplexed and said on BBC Radio Nottingham: “Zinchenko gets absolutely nowhere near him, and it’s such a cheap goal to concede, especially when you’re chasing the game like Forest are.”

Nottingham Forest lose to Everton at the City Ground ❌

How do you feel after another defeat to Everton?

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Zinchenko was a poor loan signing but he wasn’t that bad vs Everton

Zinchenko was probably an unnecessary addition to the squad in the summer, with Edu likely to have been the man behind bringing him to Forest.

However, he wasn’t really a necessary addition and given that he’s not really pulled up any trees with Arsenal, better full-back options were likely available.

Zinchenko, in truth, however, wasn’t bad vs Everton, but the moans and groans from the fans – whether what he did was good or bad – probably suggest how fans feel about him.

Hopefully, the Arsenal man can return to the Emirates Stadium in the near future, and Forest can look for a more competent left-back to be added to the squad.