Sabri Lamouchi admits Nottingham Forest 'need more character' after frustrating draw with Middlesbrough - full transcript

Sabri Lamouchi couldn’t hide his frustration after he watched Nottingham Forest throw away two points in the closing stages for a second successive Championship game, this time against struggling Middlesbrough.

Heading for victory at the City Ground on Tuesday night, the Reds led through Ryan Yates’ bullet header shortly after the hour mark, before Jack Robinson was adjudged to have given away a foul inside the penalty box.

That presented the impressive Paddy McNair with the chance to slot the ball beyond Brice Samba with nine minutes remaining, and earn Boro an unlikely point.

Here’s what the Forest boss had to say about his side’s display and more dropped points in front of their own supporters.

Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba is beaten from the penalty spot by Middlesbrough’s Paddy McNair (Dan Westwell)

On seeing the game out when in front…

"When we scored, we go back 20 yards. Maybe we were afraid to win, I don’t know.

“We must play for the second goal. We must close the game.

“If we don’t score, if we don’t achieve the second goal, don’t give them anything. We can’t.

“We have a lot of regret - the last two minutes at Millwall and tonight, it is a lot of points.”

Ryan Yates celebrates making it 1-0 (Dan Westwell)

Like Cardiff, lots of possession again at the City Ground, and not many shots on target?

“We must make the difference in the first half - because we created - with more determination, ambition and efficiency in the box.

“We have won many games with less opportunities, so it is not about the opportunities or the chances we create. We need to find the solution. We need to keep going and be positive."

It must be really annoying to drop more points?

“I am upset, like the players, because we lost two points. We are frustrated and disappointed because I thought we controlled the game until the goal.

“We played well in the first half. We created a lot, but we didn’t score. Playing not so good in the second half, we scored.

“The most important thing was to make the difference and score. But after the goal, we stopped playing.

“We gave them the possibility to take the ball, to play more direct and push us back. We need more character, especially at home, because the game was in our hands.”