Sabri Lamouchi marked a year in charge of Nottingham Forest with a 3-1 victory over Huddersfield Town.
In their first home game since the Championship’s restart, the Reds claimed maximum points thanks to a Lewis Grabban brace and a goal from Ryan Yates.
Only a late Karlan Grant penalty denied them the clean-sheet as the 10-man visitors netted a consolation right at the death, after Juninho Bacuna had been sent off.
Here’s what the Forest head coach had to say afterwards.
What was your verdict on the result and performance - it looked a pretty comfortable win?
“The most important thing for today was the victory. For me, the result was really important.
“But the season is not finished yet.
“Congratulations to Lewis and Ryan for the goals. I think we deserved to win.
“We started well. Unfortunately, we didn’t score early on through Sammy (Ameobi).
“After the first half an hour, it was a little bit problematic for us. Huddersfield played better than us.
“For this reason, I made the choice during the break to have Ryan and Ben Watson in midfield, and Tiago Silva a little bit further up to try to be the link.
“I’m happy with the three points and the victory.
“To play for the first time in an empty stadium without our fans, it was strange for me, so imagine what it was like for the players.”
How important is Lewis Grabban for you?
“He was, is and will be so important.
“We have to keep going. He will score again, because we have a lot more games.
“He is very professional. He’s fit, he works hard and has a fantastic mentality - but not only him.
“The performance today was not so good - not like we know we can do - but we got the win.
“Brice Samba made two great saves, Joe Lolley and Sammy Ameobi were good, and Ben Watson was crucial.
“Today, it was not important to play so well, it was important to get the victory.
“The intensity was not the same and we made some mistakes, but it was very important to have the right mentality.”
How do you think the players coped with an empty City Ground?
“For me, it was absolutely different. So imagine what it was like for the players - they need the support, they need the atmosphere, they need the fans.
“It is not easy, especially as the season has had to restart.
“But here we are, we got the three points.
“We have to deal with this strange situation - not only in football, but in the country and for all people.
“It is not natural to play in empty stadiums, whether it is in Sheffield or our stadium.
“Probably in our own stadium it is more problematic for us because our fans are so important.”
How is Ben Watson with his ankle problem?
“I changed him right at the end because I didn’t want to take a risk at 3-0 and on a yellow card, so we made the change to save him for a few minutes.
“But he was so important, like Joe Lolley, like Sammy Ameobi, like Brice Samba.
“We will check on him.
“We are back in training Monday morning, then we play on Wednesday.
“We need at least one day to check on him.”
Did Samba Sow miss out because of his injury?
“Samba Sow was in the group with us.
“It was my choice, because some other players are more ready than him.
“But he is available.
“Probably, with the game in three days, Samba Sow (could play), but also the others - Alfa Semedo - I need everyone.”
What’s the situation with Albert Adomah at Cardiff?
"The situation is clear.
"Albert is a Nottingham Forest player. It was a loan and the club has the right to call back the players if they want.
"I am not understanding the problem.
"Cardiff know everything and Albert knows everything. We are just talking between smart and clever people to do the right thing for everybody and the club.
"The club decides, not me."
It is a year since you came to the club - has it gone how you thought it would?
“I am so proud to be here.
“I am honestly just looking to the next month, because the next month can be unbelievable and crazy - depending on us and depending on what we do in the next few games.”
