Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche said his side’s 2-1 win in Utrecht was fully deserved after they gave their hopes of a top-eight Europa League group phase finish a big lift.
Utrecht substitute Mike van der Hoorn’s header cancelled out Arnaud Kalimuendo’s second-half opener for Forest before Igor Jesus stepped off the bench to fire the visitors’ late winner.
Forest bounced back from last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Everton to clinch their first win on the road in Europe since 1995 and their third in this season’s competition to move on to 11 points after six matches.
Dyche told UEFA: “We dominated the early periods of the second half. We conceded from a free-kick. But then the reaction was fantastic, with the subs coming onto the pitch and affecting the game.
“And of course Igor getting a goal, and I’m very pleased for Kali too. Overall, we were worthy of the win.”
Forest made an impressive start to the first competitive meeting between the two teams, but spurned several first-half chances before allowing Utrecht, backed by a partisan home crowd, to gain a foothold in the game.
Dyche, who has taken seven points from three Europa League games since replacing Ange Postecoglou in October, added: “We started very, very well with the ball, had a real control of it, had two or three chances and could have been one or two up.
“Then they came back into it, tested our keeper a couple of times, used the energy of their crowd, got the ball forward and asked questions.”
Callum Hudson-Odoi made light of the nine changes Dyche made at Stadion Galgenwaard after Saturday’s defeat against the manager’s former club.
Hudson-Odoi said: “Everybody knows everybody and knows how each other plays.
“The most important thing in football is connections and building links all around the pitch and getting the best out of each other. Everybody knows their game and what the others can bring to the team.
“You can see the mentality of the team we have. Everybody is ready to push to the final whistle and give their all in every game.
“In training we work hard; we work our socks off. And it proves it when we win games like that.”
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