Nottingham Forest suffered their first defeat under Chris Hughton as they were beaten 1-0 by Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
The visitors were fortunate not to be behind at the break, as they once again looked slow and pedestrian in the first half.
It took a couple of good saves from Brice Samba to keep Boro at bay.
Ryan Yates had found himself in space just before the quarter hour, but could only blaze over with an effort from outside the area. And that aside, Forest failed to trouble their opponents.
At the other end of the pitch, Samba stuck out a leg to keep out Hayden Coulson from a tight angle, with 18 minutes gone.
And after the half hour, the Reds goalkeeper came to the rescue again.
A terrible back-pass from Yates let in Britt Assombalonga, who was prevented from scoring against his old club, with Marcus Tavernier spurning the follow-up.
It was a big let-off for Forest.
But they went close to a breakthrough after the break; Yates heading an Anthony Knockaert corner just wide.
That missed chance proved costly as Boro took the lead with less than 10 minutes to go, as Marvin Johnson beat Samba with a volley from close range.
It proved to be the decisive moment in a largely uninspiring clash, as the Reds’ four-match unbeaten run came to an end.
What the manager said
“I can only talk about my period of time here, and by far the best we’ve been in terms of chances was the Rotherham game,” Hughton said.
“We have shown we can create and we can get into those positions, but still we didn’t score the goals.
“Can that be a confidence thing? Yes.
“I know we conceded a goal, but overall defensively, I think we’ve been compact as a team - I’ve been happy with what I’ve seen.
“We need to be a bigger threat offensively.”
What the opposition said
"I thought we deserved it," said the boss. "I think Marcus only had one shot to save," Neil Warnock said.
"We played against a very good team, make no mistake about it. I thought there was only going to be one goal in it.
“I said at half-time it was a similar thing to Coventry. It took us 80 minutes to score then and I said it might take us 90 today, but there is a goal there if we keep playing like we are.
“We can still step it up another notch, but they’re a good side when you let them play, so we had to make sure we didn’t let them play. I thought there were a lot of pluses. (Anfernee) Dijksteel and (Marc) Bola were super against two really good wide players.”
What the fans said
William Eaton: Won’t slag Hughton at all but how can this good a squad of players be soooo bad!
Dan: Almost glad we’ve lost so that we can stop hiding behind an unbeaten record that consists of a lucky last minute deflection and 3 boring 1-1 draws where #NFFC have had to come from behind each time.
Phil : Recruitment to blame. Need to make tough decisions on the players that are here/brought in and ones that are not good enough, released. Pick a 23 man squad, a playing ethos and stick with it. CH will get it right.
Up next
Coventry City, home, Wednesday night 7.45pm
