Nottingham Forest were dealt a late suckerpunch as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at Coventry City in their opening Championship clash.
It was not the start to the new season the Reds had hoped for as their hosts came from behind to take all three points.
Lyle Taylor had given Chris Hughton’s side the lead before the break, only for the Sky Blues to have the better of the second half and hit back through Viktor Gyokeres and Kyle McFadzean, who clinched the victory deep into added time.
Here's what Forest boss Hughton had to say at the full-time whistle at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
What are your thoughts on the game?
“For 65 or 70 minutes, I thought we were good.
“They were playing at home and have a very offensive structure. But we restricted them to minimal chances, apart from one which hit the crossbar, and scored a very good goal ourselves.
“But we tired towards the end, and at that stage, when the other team is in the ascendancy, you have to make good decisions.
"It was probably a little bit too much for us in the end."
You had covid problems in the build-up, what effect did that have?
“It’s been a difficult and challenging time.
“You have to be able to get on with it and cope with it.
“We’ve been working with smaller groups, which has some benefits.
“But when you’ve got players who have missed a fair bit of training… Towards the end of the game, a team can get a bit of momentum - particularly at home, on an emotional day.
“But if you’re still in there physically, you hope you can make better decisions.
“Towards the end of the game it was obvious we weren’t able to match the tempo they had. You hope to be able to make good decisions, and we probably didn’t.”
Are any of the players still affected by the covid problems?
"Lewis (Grabban) is isolating at the moment.
“At this moment, apart from one of the younger players, we are clear of covid.
“We test regularly every day and have been clear for some five days now."
You haven't made any excuses, but are some of your players as match fit as you would like?
“We don’t want to make excuses, because it’s part and parcel of the game. These things happen and you have to get on with it.
“But it’s been a very challenging last two weeks. We had to call off two games and we have a lot of players who haven’t been able to train as we would like.
“But these are the challenges you have to work around.
"And I thought, probably up until they scored their goal, we were very much up for the challenge."
Was Joe Worrall's absence down to injury?
"Yes. Joe felt his calf two days ago.
"It's a disappointing one because Joe has been a regular for us and is a fit lad. Over his career so far, he hasn't picked up many injuries.
"That was only a couple of days ago.
"We'll see, but we hope he won't be out for long - particularly with Loic (Mbe Soh) going off today as well, as he felt his groin.
"We'll see how he is in the next couple of days."
How impressed were you with Brennan Johnson?
"He's a young player who we like a lot.
"It was a great decision by the club to send him out on loan to Lincoln (last season) - and credit to Lincoln, they have helped his development hugely.
"He's come back better for it.
"But it's our responsibility to look after him and develop him, and we'll continue to do that."
