Latest Nottingham Forest verdict as Sean Dyche's Reds draw 1-1 with Crystal Palace in Premier League clash
07:00, 02 Feb 2026
Nottingham Forest defender Neco Williams walks off the pitch after being sent off against Crystal Palace as Steve Stone, Sean Dyche and Ian Woan converse in the background
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Nottingham Forest defender Neco Williams walks off the pitch after being sent off against Crystal Palace as Steve Stone, Sean Dyche and Ian Woan converse in the background(Image: Getty)
It said everything about Nottingham Forest’s spirit, resolve and quality that for 45 minutes it was difficult to tell which team had the numerical advantage at the City Ground on Sunday.
Courtesy of Neco Williams’ daft red card, Sean Dyche’s side played the entire second half a man down. Not that it showed as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
But for that one moment on the stroke of half-time, which also resulted in the visitors’ equaliser from the penalty spot, the Reds would have fancied themselves to take the three points Trentside. Even with 10 men, they still could have won it.
This could so easily have turned into one of *those* kind of days for Forest - a sending off, first-choice goalkeeper injured, up against a team with whom there is a bit of needle. That it didn’t owes a lot to the character in the squad and also Dyche’s work.
The Reds head coach might not be every fan’s cup of tea, particularly for the long-term, but he is doing what he was brought in to do - make sure of Premier League survival. This could turn out to be an important point in that respect. Below, NottinghamshireLive looks at some of the key talking points from Sunday’s stalemate.
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Moment of madness
Eyes cast downwards, Williams shook his head and muttered to himself as he trudged off the pitch following his red card in the 45th minute. His frustration was clear.
Dyche was too busy discussing how Forest should respond to the situation with assistants Ian Woan and Steve Stone to acknowledge the defender. It was left to club captain Ryan Yates to jump up from off the bench and put a consoling arm around the Welshman as they headed down the tunnel.
Dyche did stick up for Williams afterwards as he said: “I think it was just an instinctive thing. There is certainly no questioning Neco, he has been tremendous - both before I was here and since I’ve been here. At the end of the day, it’s 10 v 11 so he knows it’s tough.”
Williams apologised to the squad in the dressing room and then said sorry to Reds fans with a heartfelt social media post after the match. It was a moment of madness, albeit an instinctive one when he stuck his hand out to thwart Jefferson Lerma’s header.
Plenty of supporters clapped the full-back off. If anyone has credit in the bank this season, it is him; he has been Mr Consistent for so long.
It was a turning point in the game but Forest more than stepped up. In fact, it didn’t take long for his teammates to start taking the mickey out of Williams. In response to his reflective post on Instagram, Morgan Gibbs-White quipped: “Great save lad.”
Impressive performances
Despite being a man better off, Palace failed to register a single effort on target in the second half. Angus Gunn might have hoped for an opportunity to show what he is capable of on his debut for the club, but was left with little to do after replacing the injured Matz Sels at the break. Forest were comfortable.
Back-up goalkeeper Gunn was well protected by those in front of him. The back line, even with a bit of rejigging to cater for the loss of Williams, limited the visitors to very little.
Midfield duo Ibrahim Sangare and Elliot Anderson also played their part in that. The pair have forged a very effective partnership in the centre of the pitch.
Having the composed Sangare there allows England international Anderson to flourish even more. According to Sky Sports’ stats, the England international made more passes and had more touches of the ball than anyone else on the pitch over the course of the 90 minutes. He won possession on more occasions than anyone else, too, doing so 10 times in all.
Goalscorer Gibbs-White was also on top form for Forest - and not just with the aplomb with which he found the back of the net. Playing more advanced than normal, he was on it right from the start and didn’t relent until the final whistle.
“We want to do that. We spoke to him about it and he’s been terrific,” Dyche said of pushing his No.10 a bit higher up the pitch. “He shared his thoughts with us and we shared ours with him. He’s been really good at that, as have the whole group.”
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Momentum building
At times under Dyche, Forest have been guilty of not backing up a good performance. After toppling Liverpool in November, they lost at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in their next league fixture. After holding their own against Manchester City just after Christmas, they were poor in defeat to Everton a few days later.
Since the turn of the year, though, they have put a bit of a run together - at least where the league is concerned. They are now unbeaten in four and have picked up eight points from those games. Confidence and momentum is building.
The gap to the bottom three is six points. It is not quite as big a buffer as Forest would like, and they will perhaps be frustrated their efforts haven’t yielded even greater rewards. But if they can keep this going, with games against Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers up next, their position should only improve.
Palace are in real danger of getting dragged into the relegation scrap. Although it finished all-square in the end, there was plenty of banter exchanged from the stands in reference to the summer dispute between the two clubs regarding their European involvement.
It didn’t take long for Reds fans to start singing the name of owner Evangelos Marinakis and taunting their opponents for squandering their Europa League opportunity. It seems there were no fireworks in the boardroom, though, as it was all quiet between Marinakis and Palace chairman Steve Parish - any prospect of an awkward exchange apparently swerved.
Words were not required either when the teams lined up in the tunnel ahead of kick-off. One of the Forest mascots cheekily thumbed his nose at ex-Reds loanee Dean Henderson rather than shake his hand - much to the amusement of the Palace keeper and Reds captain Gibbs-White.
Transfer talk
Marinakis might not have spoken to Parish, but he did have a conversation with global technical director George Syrianos and head of recruitment Pedro Ferreira pre-match. At some point during the afternoon, transfers were no doubt a topic of discussion ahead of deadline day.
Stefan Ortega was presented to the crowd before kick-off, having become the club’s second signing of the window earlier in the day. The arrival of the former Manchester City goalkeeper has proved to be timely given the injury to Sels.
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The need to bring in a full-back before tonight’s 7pm cut-off has only been brought into sharper focus by the suspension Williams will now serve for his red card. Confirmation of Oleksandr Zinchenko’s loan from Arsenal being cut short came later on Sunday evening and Forest have Nicolo Savona sidelined with a knee injury, leaving them short in that area.
If the Reds can also source a midfielder and a striker in the final hours they will be happy, although Dyche has said all along they have to be the right fit. The last thing Forest need is any panic buying or barrel scraping. As they demonstrated on Sunday, they have the basis of a good squad in place - complementing what they have is the key.
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