Despite a last-gasp equaliser, it was a quiet Nottingham Forest dressing room after Saturday’s controversial 2-2 draw with Brentford.
The Reds’ battling spirit saw them salvage a point at the City Ground, courtesy of a Zanka own goal. But there was a very definite feeling they should have taken all three.
Morgan Gibbs-White’s excellent solo goal had put the hosts in front in a first half in which they dominated, with plenty of chances created. But VAR was in the spotlight again as four penalty decisions - three which were not given in Forest’s favour, and one which was awarded to the Bees - made for a frustrating afternoon for head coach Steve Cooper.
READ MORE: How the Reds rated against Brentford
READ MORE: Cooper has his say on controversial decisions in Brentford draw
His team remain bottom of the Premier League table, but they again showed signs of progress, particularly before the break. And it was a vastly improved performance from the one at Arsenal a week ago.
“Last week is probably the only time where I didn’t like the mentality of the group,” said Cooper. “But I’ve always said how pleased I’ve been with the togetherness and the will.
“It’s a disappointed dressing room. I know we’ve got a last-second goal, but it’s a really disappointed dressing room; a quiet dressing room.
“The feeling is we have dropped two points, that we’ve let two points go. There were no real celebrations from equalising. I wouldn’t be happy if we were coming in the dressing room happy with a draw at home.
“I can’t be narrow-minded and just look at the decisions which went against us; I’ve got to look at the whole, overall performance, because we’ve got to get ready for the next game now.
“We were much the better team, particularly in the first half; tactically excellent, got Morgan into positions where we really thought he could do damage, and he did. He was the best player on the pitch. And then the game lost its rhythm because of the decisions and became a completely different game.
“There’s a lot to take in. A lot of good things, some things we must do better at. At least we fought to the end and got something out of it, and the fans were brilliant again.”
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