Tim Sherwood believes that Nottingham Forest lacked bravery in their opening day defeat at Newcastle United, but has offered at least one positive that Steve Cooper and his players can take from the game.
The Reds' return to the Premier League did not match the fairy tale that preceded it last season. The Magpies dominated proceedings at St James' Park, winning the game through second-half goals from Fabian Schär and Callum WIlson.
It was a humbling experience for the visitors, who had waited 23 years to be taught a cruel lesson - the top flight takes no prisoners. The result leaves them third from bottom, exactly where they won't want to be come the end of May.
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Sherwood, a Premier League-winning captain with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, says the Newcastle game will be a wakeup call to Cooper's players after showing "too much respect" to their opponents. On a dimly positive note, he predicted "it won't get worse" from here.
"They know the level required now," the ex-Spurs and Aston Villa boss told Sky Sports. "You can't get away with mistakes, you have to be on your game, take chances.
"You have to be a little bit braver I would suggest and I think they would learn from that. Certainly in the first half they showed too much respect to Newcastle, they stood off them.
"You have to get in their faces, make it difficult for them. Every time they got the ball Newcastle went and took it off them.
"You don't get time and if you make mistakes at this level you get punished. The positive I can give them is that it won't get worse than this."
It doesn't get any easier for Forest. They take on David Moyes' West Ham United at the City Ground at 2pm on Sunday.
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