Nottingham Forest fell 1-3 at Villa Park, a fourth straight defeat that exposed persistent issues. According to Nottingham Post, Sean Dyche spoke of hard truths and the reality he focuses on beyond the noise.
Forest were blunt for long spells, even with Morgan Gibbs-White on the scoresheet. Once Ollie Watkins struck, hopes of a comeback looked slim, even when it stood at 2-1.
In goal, selection and execution proved costly. Mats Sayers is fit again after a recent injury, but Dyche keeps faith with John Victor, including at Fulham. On 73 minutes John Victor rushed out, John McGinn pounced, and the keeper soon signaled an injury before leaving in tears, having earlier denied Watkins.
Basic errors compounded matters. Neco Williams’s early slip led to that save, Nikola Milenkovich was not tight for Watkins’s goal, and Dylan Bakwar erred in the build-up to the second. Dyche called it naive and said such mistakes are punished in the Premier League by very good sides.
He has also stressed that he looks at reality, not the noise. Under him, 森林 moved clear of the bottom three and their attacking numbers improved. Across the last six matches, 桑德兰 have seven points and 森林 six.
A forward before the window closes feels essential, but more immediately they need a result to stop the slide and lift belief. Tuesday brings a reunion with 努诺·埃斯皮里托·桑托 at 西汉姆联 in the capital. A win could leave 森林 seven points clear of 18th.
