Nottingham Forest head coach Sabri Lamouchi says it was a tactical decision to substitute Joe Lolley at half-time of his team’s 1-0 win over Bristol City.
Lolley had required a lengthy spell of treatment in the first half at the City Ground, having seemed to be struggling with an injury.
He did not appear for the second half, with Nuno Da Costa coming on instead. But Lamouchi says he was always planning to change something at the break, after an opening 45 minutes in which his team had been on the back foot.
Making the substitution, he said, was to help “wake up the dressing room”.
“He felt a small pain,” the Frenchman explained. “But like usually with Lolley, it was a tactical choice.
“I am sure Lolley could have played a better second half, like the others. “But when you have that performance, you need to do something.
“I had it in my mind to make changes, but one was the minimum - just to wake up the dressing room and wake up the players, because we played the wrong way.
“We played without confidence and without energy.
“But it was a very good win.”
Tiago Silva’s free-kick proved the difference for the hosts as they made it successive home wins since the Championship’s restart.
