Nottingham Forest were left kicking themselves on two fronts after losing 1-0 at home to Huddersfield Town in their final game of 2021.
Not only did the Reds miss a glut of chances to get something from the game, but boss Steve Cooper was particularly frustrated with the goal they conceded at the other end of the pitch.
It came from a move Forest had worked on in the build-up to the game, with Duane Holmes linking up with Harry Toffolo before beating Brice Samba at his near post.
Try as they might, the hosts were unable to find the back of the net in response, making it two successive defeats for Cooper’s side.
“We haven’t won because we conceded a goal that we planned on not conceding in that way,” said the Welshman.
“We did a lot of work in the last few days about Toffolo and flat crosses into the area they scored from. It’s a real feature of Huddersfield’s attacking threat - they’ve scored a lot of goals that way.
“I’m disappointed that after going through it thoroughly, we’ve conceded in that way.
“And then for all the chances we’ve created, we’ve not been able to convert one.
“So that’s why we’ve not won.
“But I won’t lose sight of the fact we were by far the better team. We were the dominant team and played the better football.
“In terms of the performance, it was a good one. We just didn’t manage to keep a clean-sheet and score a goal.”
The result came on the back of Boxing Day’s 2-0 reverse at Middlesbrough. But in contrast to that clash, Forest had been much the better side on the banks of the Trent - just falling short in front of goal.
“The idea is to play like that, create those chances, but to score. That’s the plan,” said Cooper.
“I’ve said to the boys, about conceding the goal and the chances we’ve missed, but at the same time, we’ve played well in the game. I’ve said to them, keep going, keep heads up.
“Nobody is going to be happy one bit about losing a football match, but at the same time I’m not going to be narrow-minded enough not to see there was a lot of good things throughout the game.”
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