Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton on confidence, missed chances and Barnsley defeat

Two late goals killed off any hopes Nottingham Forest had of returning from Barnsley with something to show for their efforts.

They were beaten 2-0 at Oakwell as Callum Styles and Cauley Woodrow struck late on.

The Reds were left to rue a number of missed chances as Chris Hughton fell to his second defeat in charge.

Here’s what the Forest manager had to say afterwards.

What was Chris Hughton's mood like after Nottingham Forest's defeat to Barnsley

What did you make of the result and performance?

“We’re disappointed.

“In a game we shouldn’t have lost - a game I thought we didn’t deserve to lose - we’ve come away with nothing.

“That’s the biggest disappointment.

“There are obviously some plusses. There were parts of our performance which I think were very good.

“We created chances. In general play, we created better chances than they did, but we’ve still come away without any points.

“The overriding feeling is one of disappointment.”

Was it a case of not taking your chances?

“We had good chances.

“There’s always that balance when you’re setting up the team - how offensive do you want to go?

“Goals change games.

“If we had put one of those chances away, it changes the game; they would have had to come out a little bit more.

“But the longer the game goes when you’re not taking those chances, you’re putting pressure on yourself.

“Their goal which really decided the game, the first one, was a great strike. That can happen.”

Nottingham Forest's Tobias Figueiredo, Yuri Ribeiro and Anthony Knockaert pictured at the full-time whistle against Barnsley (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

Was the second goal particularly disappointing to concede?

“I’m disappointed with both goals, but you’ve got to give the lad credit for the first one because it was a great strike. You can’t put any blame on the goalkeeper.

“The second was a soft one. With those balls in the wide areas, we’ve got to defend better.

“Then it was a midfield player which broke into the box and had the opportunity to score.

“It was certainly a bigger disappointment with the second goal.”

How can you help players to convert those chances?

“I think it’s a confidence thing.

“You do the work that you can do on the training ground. With the volume of games, we’re not able to do the amount of finishing work we would like to. But we do enough.

“I think it’s about confidence.

“Guerrero going through with those two opportunities… in the next game, if one of those chances gets put away, you’re playing with that little bit more confidence.

“There isn’t much more we can do than we’re already doing.

“We created good chances, which is the positive. The disappointment is we didn’t put them away.”

Miguel Guerrero of Nottingham Forest runs past Alex Mowatt of Barnsley (Getty)

How frustrating is it when you play well but don’t come away with anything?

"It is very frustrating. Particularly how we did in the second half.

"When they scored their goal, I thought we were in really good control of the game at that stage.

"But they have got quality and players who can produce.

"I just thought in general play we were in good control.

"That's what's most disappointing - to concede at that moment. Anybody watching the game in that period, would probably have felt we were most likely to score.”

You only made one of the five permitted substitutions, what was your thinking behind that?

“It was because I was generally happy with the performance.

“You’ve never got complete control of a game, because you’re up against very good teams.

“But in terms of my games so far, we were as much in control against Barnsley as we have been in any other game.

“For me, there wasn't the necessity.

"Anthony (Knockaert) looked like he could produce something, and I thought Joe (Lolley) did okay.

"Lyle (Taylor), along with Guerrero, hasn't played too many 90 minutes. I thought he just got to the stage where, with his ball retention, he was just losing it a little bit.

"But overall, I thought he played well.”

Yuri Ribeiro kept his place at left-back even though Nicholas Ioannou was available again, was that a difficult decision to make?

“I think that’s the same as probably every position.

“There’s probably a lot of talk about that position because, at this moment, we’ve got a lot of players who can play there.

“But it’s no different to any other position. It’s a decision for me who to play there and for what game.

“I think Yuri has done well.

“Particularly on the back of the two weeks off, and the good performances and wins going into that, there wasn’t the need for me to change it.”