Pep Guardiola refused to blame Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson after a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest dented his side’s hopes of Champions League qualification.
Ederson was beaten at his near post for Callum Hudson-Odoi’s late winner at the City Ground.
But Guardiola did not criticise Ederson, who had earlier made a good save to keep out Hudson-Odoi.
Guardiola said: “It is what it is. I never blame a player. I prefer to praise. I never blame.
“I didn’t see the action but it’s football. A good action from Hudson-Odoi so nothing to say.”
City’s defeat leaves them four points off fourth-placed Forest and with clubs blow them breathing down their necks.
Guardiola said: “We have to win games. We have not won enough games in a row to be secure.
“We have 10 games left and we have to win a lot of games to qualify. It’s as simple as that.”
Guardiola added: “It was a tight game. At the end it was one transition. We missed the pass, they did a transition and they scored the goal.
“We were a little bit slow in our process. We struggled to create chances but always we give credit to the opponent because they defended really well.
“We controlled the main threat, long balls to Wood and second balls, really good, and after that the transitions always we were really good especially in the first half.”
