Ange Postecoglou has called for ‘calmer heads’ from his Nottingham Forest players as he searches for his first win as head coach.
Victory had appeared to be on the cards in the Carabao Cup at Swansea City when the Reds took a two-goal lead in the third-round tie. But they were left stunned at the final whistle after conceding twice in stoppage time to find themselves on the wrong end of a 3-2 defeat.
Coming on the back of the weekend’s 3-0 loss at Arsenal, it has not been the start to life at Forest Postecoglou had hoped for. He knows his team must quickly bounce back when they travel to Burnley on Saturday (3pm kick-off), and he wants to see a much more controlled performance.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss pointed to a level of complacency from the visitors as they threw the game away against the Swans. The hosts had got back into the game in the 68th minute, after Postecoglou had made four substitutions - two at the break and two past the hour - but he felt the changes did not affect his team’s rhythm.
“No, not really. A lot of those changes we had to make because some guys still aren’t in the physical condition to see out the game. You could tell they were tiring,” Postecoglou said.
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“Even with the guys who came on, it just needed some calmer heads and being a bit more clinical in our actions - both in taking chances but also in the way we set up. We just allowed the opposition to get into the game.
“You can look at some positive performances. But ultimately the overriding factor is we are out of a cup competition that really we should have progressed in. That opportunity, we shouldn’t have lost.
“We can look at the individuals within that, and there were some promising performances. It was important that some of the guys played - you could see they needed a game. But all that fades away when you realise we missed a great opportunity to progress.”
Postecoglou walked over to the away end after the match and appeared to be pointing to himself. But he insisted there was no meaning behind the gesture and he simply wanted to acknowledge the supporters who had made the long trip.
“I was just acknowledging the fans. We put them through a tough night, so I was just acknowledging the fans,” he said.
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