Nottingham Forest’s final day capitulation will “stick with them” for some time, according to former Red Jermaine Jenas.
Sabri Lamouchi’s side threw away the chance of a top six finish when they collapsed 4-1 at home to Stoke City on Wednesday night.
The Reds needed just a point to confirm a play-off place, having gone into the match in fifth spot, three points ahead of Swansea City and with a better goal difference.
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But three goals in a hugely damaging 20-minute spell killed off Forest’s promotion dream, with the Swans triumphing over Reading by the same scoreline to overtake their rivals.
It meant Lamouchi’s men ended the season in seventh, on the back of a six-match winless run - form which Jenas believes would have left them with “no chance” if they had managed to scrape into the play-offs.
“I was looking at them and thinking that even if they get through, they have got absolutely no chance,” the ex-midfielder told 5Live.
“All they talk about going into the play-offs is form - who is going to make that late run - and they were going the other way, falling off the edge of a cliff. They couldn’t buy a win.
“Against teams down near the bottom they were struggling.
“I don’t know if it’s worrying or just discouraging really in the way that it happened.
“I have to say, on top of that, the swing that they took at the end is a thing. The fact that they could have gone into the game and snatched a point or not lost by as big a margin as they did and still been in the play-offs, that’s going to stick with them for a while.
“There’s a few tags flying around that have landed them in my inbox that I’ve had to deal with and those players will have to deal with it just the same.”
