Misfiring attack, defensive error so costly

IT'S TIME FOR FOREST TO SHOW CHARACTER AGAIN AFTER LOSS

- SARAH CLAPSON

THE last few steps are always the hardest in any race for the line, as Nottingham Forest are finding out.

Just when the Reds needed to hold their nerve, head coach Nuno Espirito Santo admitted a touch of anxiety may have crept in on the banks of the Trent.

His team produced an uncharacteristically insipid display as they fell 1-0 to Everton in their first home reverse since November.

Coming on the back of their 2-1 loss at Aston Villa, it made it successive defeats for the Champions League chasers.

Qualifying for Europe's elite club competition is still in Forest's own hands but they will know the chasing pack can smell blood heading into the final few weeks of the campaign.

Below is a look at some of the big talking points from Saturday's match.

■ Misfiring attack

The hosts could have played long into the night against the Toffees and not found the back of the net.

They just did not look like scoring. Chances were few and far between, and the ones they did create didn't really trouble Jordan Pickford.

Having Chris Wood back was a huge boost but he had just nine touches of the ball in the first half, and the second period was not much better. The New Zealander didn't look fully fit, having been sidelined for the last few weeks with a hip problem but he received barely any service all afternoon.

The Reds appeared laboured. They lacked energy and any kind of spark. Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi found the going as tough as anyone, and Anthony Elanga was not able to stretch the game as he would have liked when he came on.

It is at the top end of the pitch where injuries have hit of late, with Wood and Elanga doubts going into this fixture and Taiwo Awoniyi still ruled out.