Nottingham Forest suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to Brentford on Tuesday night to stay 18th in the Championship
Nottingham Forest caretaker manager Gary Brazil
Nottingham Forest interim boss Gary Brazil has told the club’s official website what was discussed with the players before their clash with Brentford on Tuesday, before hinting at why he made some slightly controversial selection decisions.
Forest went into the game with the Bees off the back of a mightily impressive 3-0 victory over automatic-promotion chasers Brighton at the weekend, with Zach Clough scoring two of the goals after coming on as a substitute.
Despite the January signing’s performance however, he was left on the bench once again for the clash against Brentford, as were Ben Brereton and Ross McCormack, while Britt Assombalonga – who had not scored in his last five games – was handed another start.
And going into the game, Brazil hinted that he largely wanted to keep faith with the players who had started against Brighton, but made clear to them to avoid being over-confident against Dean Smith’s men just because of that previous win.
“We made it clear and talked about the importance of getting a good result after Saturday and talked about not being complacent,” he told the club’s official website.
Nottingham Forest’s Zach Clough
“A lot of the players went back out again and were given another opportunity to play after a good result on Saturday and, from my point of view, there are things to think about and we have learnt a lot tonight.
Unfortunately for Brazil, his selection decision was certainly not vindicated and his team talk seemed to have little impact on the players as Brentford led 3-0 with little over 20 minutes to go.
And what made his initial selection look all the more foolish was the fact that Assombalonga failed to score once again, while both Clough and Brereton found the net after coming on and McCormack – who was also brought on – contributed an assist.
Nottingham Forest’s Ben Brereton in action
What is particularly puzzling about Brazil’s apparent justification for his team selection is that all three goals against Brighton at the weekend came when Clough was on the pitch, while Brereton was on for the last two, so it could definitely be argued that it was the young pair who should have been rewarded rather than those who started against the Seagulls.
But with the two forwards making an impact in yet another game, Brazil surely has no choice but to hand them starts this weekend, especially with the bottom three now just five points away.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
