Midfielder Ben Watson says Nottingham Forest players will take criticism from fans “on the chin”, following Saturday’s 4-0 capitulation at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
Boos rang out from the stands at half-time and full-time, as the crowd made their feelings clear, while many supporters left the City Ground at the break after a dire opening 45 minutes in which their team had been blown away by the Owls.
Four out of the Reds’ five league defeats so far this season have now come on their own turf.
And the weekend’s thumping came on the back of last Tuesday night’s draw with Middlesbrough, when Sabri Lamouchi’s men surrendered a 1-0 lead.
“You pay your money to come watch your team win games - 4-0 down at half-time, they’re entitled to do what they want,” Watson said of the fans’ reactions.
“You’re going to get booed, and we knew that.
“We’ve got to take it on the chin.
“It’s a free world, they can criticise, they can say what they want about players.
“But one thing we can’t get away from is that we started this season well. We were in the top six, which is where we want to be. We have a game in hand. And we’re not even halfway through the season.
“It’s down to the players, it’s down to the staff, it’s down to everyone involved to get back to winning ways.
“There was words, people said their part and what was said in the dressing room was said in there; that’s the end of that.
“We’ve got a good team spirit. We want to keep that going and we want to put it right on the pitch.”
Forest dropped to eighth in the table as a result of losing to Wednesday, though they are just one point off the top six with that game in hand.
They will look to get back on track when they make the trip to Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
“We’ve got to look on the bright side - if we win our game in hand, we go third,” Watson added. “So it’s not all doom and gloom.
“It was a bad day at the office and you’re going to have that. That’s the Championship for you, in a nutshell.
“If you’re not ready to battle, to win headers, tackles, hook it on, earn the right to play, then you’ll get punished. That was the case on Saturday.”
