Chris Hughton was disappointed by Nottingham Forest’s defending as they surrendered their seven-game unbeaten run with defeat at home to Middlesbrough.
The Reds were beaten 2-1 by Neil Warnock’s side, who took the lead through a clinical finish from ex-Forest striker Britt Assombalonga, before George Saville increased the lead after the break.
Forest did hit a goal back in stoppage time when Loic Mbe Soh, on as a substitute, headed in Joe Lolley’s delightful cross after he had also been sent on from the bench.
But all hope of a comeback ended when Yuri Ribeiro saw red for a needless altercation as Boro looked to protect the ball in the corner.
Forest boss Hughton said his side struggled to find any rhythm against a streetwise Boro side who still have ambitions of reaching the Championship’s top six.
“We never really got going,” he said.
“We were up against a team who play a certain way and were man for man all over the park.
“We needed to impose ourselves more on them, which we were not able to do.
“If you can’t do that then you’ve got to be resolute at the back.
“For a team like us that has been solid and not looking like we’d concede, I thought we conceded two really poor goals.
“The timing of the goals went against us but I can’t say we were the better side. I can’t say we deserved to get a result.”
Disappointingly, Forest registered just one shot on target in the entire 90 minutes, which ended up with Mbe Soh scoring his first goal for the club.
And Hughton felt that his side needed to be more aggressive with their movement in the final third.
“They play a certain way and what you’ve got to have is runners who stretch the play,” he said.
“We didn’t run behind enough and we were up against a team who are happy if you are playing the game in your own half.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to stretch them for the sake of it, which gets the ball further up the park.
"It might be a throw-in in the final third and then you can gather a little bit of momentum.
“But we never did that well enough. Most of it was ball to feet, and I thought they capitalised on it.”
