Head coach Sabri Lamouchi spoke of his pride in his Nottingham Forest players for their performance in an FA Cup defeat at Chelsea.
The Reds were knocked out of the competition 2-0 in a third round tie at Stamford Bridge
Lamouchi’s men had a penalty decision overturned in the first half, when the score was still 1-0 thanks to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener.
Referee Peter Bankes had pointed to the spot after Alex Mighten - on his full debut - was brought down by Fikayo Tomori. But VAR ruled no penalty, with the 17-year-old’s arm judged to be offside.
And after Ross Barkley had doubled the Blues’ lead in the second half, Ryan Yates had the ball in the back of the net, only to be flagged offside - another marginal call, this time supported by VAR.
“We must be proud. I am proud to be coach of this team and these players - to come here, to play with this character, this personality, to try, to fight and to run until the end,” Lamouchi said.
“The VAR… I don’t think it changed the game, to be honest. But, of course, in the Championship it would be 2-2 because the penalty and the goal would stand. But not with VAR.
“It is not fair to play in the league without VAR and to play FA Cup with VAR.
“You should play every single weekend with or without VAR, with the same rules for all teams.”
Of the decision against Mighten, he added: “If it is offside, it is offside.
“I don’t know whether it was because I haven’t seen the video.
“I just want to trust the VAR and the referee.
“But if it was a penalty, we score and it would be 1-1.”
Lamouchi had rung the changes to his starting line-up, giving Mighten his chance, as well as including fellow teenager Brennan Johnson.
Carl Jenkinson and Yuri Ribeiro made their comebacks from injury, while defender Yohan Benalouane featured for the first time since last April, when he came off the bench.
Youngsters Tyrese Fornah and Yassine En-Neyah also got a taste of the action as substitutes, with academy players George Shelvey, Liam Sole and Jordan Gabriel included in the matchday squad, too.
“It was two big clubs, but the bigger team was Chelsea - they controlled the game,” Lamouchi said.
“I just want to be positive and focus on that.
“We gave some players 90 minutes - Carl Jenkinson, Yuri Ribeiro, Ryan Yates, Michael Dawson.
“And the surprise - for you, maybe, but not for me - was the young players; Brennan Johnson in a different position,
“Mighten did a lot - a lot of running, had a lot of the ball and disturbed the opponents a lot.
“It was very, very positive.
“Joao Carvalho, Alfa Semedo and Albert Adomah, with their experience, they tried to help the young players.
“We must be proud of our performance because to play with this character is nice.
“At Nottingham Forest, we have a good academy and very good young players.
“Gary Brazil, Chris Cohen and all the coaches at the academy, they have young, talented players.
“We just want to give them the chance to play at the right time.”
