Latest Nottingham Forest verdict as Sean Dyche's Reds draw 0-0 with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the City Ground
21:31, 11 Feb 2026Updated 21:54, 11 Feb 2026
Nottingham Forest's Lorenzo Lucca competing in the air under pressure from Wolverhampton Wanderers' Yerson Mosquera
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Nottingham Forest's Lorenzo Lucca competing in the air under pressure from Wolverhampton Wanderers' Yerson Mosquera
A goalless draw with bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers did little to ease the pressure on head coach Sean Dyche or ease Nottingham Forest’s relegation fears.
It was a game with plenty riding on it for the Reds, against the side propping up the division. Not only had their advantage over the bottom three been cut but speculation had been swirling in the build-up about Dyche’s lack of job security.
Finding a level of consistency has been a problem for Forest under Dyche. They have also tended to struggle against teams around them - last week’s dismal defeat to Leeds United being a case in point.
They made a positive start on the banks of the Trent, though. The hosts saw plenty of the ball and forged a handful of encouraging openings, with Neco Williams, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White all trying their luck early on.
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Plenty inside the City Ground thought the breakthrough had come with 14 minutes on the clock. A few cheers rang out when Gibbs-White met an Anderson cross at the far post - from a certain angle it looked as though the skipper’s header had gone in, but it had only rippled the side-netting.
The Reds had an even better opportunity to take the lead on the half-hour. Somehow they failed to take advantage of a six on one break as Lorenzo Lucca inexplicably blasted over from Hudson-Odoi’s ball in.
On such moments, games and seasons can be defined. The chances continued to rack up for Dyche’s men before the break and although Lucca did have the ball in the net shortly before the whistle it was ruled out for offside.
There was a warning sign for Forest when Tolu Arokodare headed narrowly wide on the stroke of the interval. And with that, a sense of frustration around the ground was evident as the Reds headed down the tunnel with nothing to show for their 16 efforts at goal.
The second half followed a similar pattern. Morato was off target with his head and Hudson-Odoi was wasteful after being teed up by Gibbs-White.
Tension was growing among the home fans as the clock ticked on without the scoreline changing. When Jose Sa made a double save to deny substitute Igor Jesus and the Morato with little more than 15 minutes to go, it prompted audible groans from the stands.
Boos then rang out at the full-time whistle as it ended goalless, with Forest having squandered an opportunity to pull five points clear of danger. Here’s how Reds reporter Sarah Clapson rated the Forest players at the City Ground.
Stefan Ortega: A bystander for much of the evening as most of the play happened at the opposite end of the pitch. Would have breathed a sigh of relief when Arokodare’s first-half header whistled narrowly wide, though. Rating: 6/10
Ola Aina: Back on the right side of the defence after last week’s poor showing on the left. Did get forward a fair bit but, like most of his teammates, couldn’t really make the desired impact. Rating: 5.5/10
Nikola Milenkovic: Barely had anything to do defensively so tried to make a difference at the other end when he fired a shot in anger in the closing stages. Coming away with a clean-sheet was little consolation on this occasion. Rating: 6/10
Morato: Needed to put in a better performance than against Leeds as he retained his spot in the absence of the injured Murillo. In the end, almost made a difference in front of goal as he had a couple of chances. Rating: 6/10
Neco Williams: Back from suspension after being sorely missed last week. Contributed well enough and Forest’s frustrations were not for the want of trying by the Welshman. Added to the shot count. Rating: 6/10
Ibrahim Sangare: Did well enough as Forest dominated possession. It was going forward where the Reds needed more, though, and that is not the midfielder’s game. Rating: 5.5/10
Elliot Anderson: Teed up Gibbs-White for one of the home side’s best chances, on a night where they had a glut of them. Kept plugging away but couldn’t unlock the Wolves defence and some sloppiness crept in. Rating: 5.5/10
Omari Hutchinson: Had surely been brought into the side to provide balls into the box for Lucca to get on the end of, but the winger didn’t deliver on that front. Summed up Forest’s frustrations in that he got into promising positions but failed to make the most of them, including taking some very poor corners. Rating: 4/10
Morgan Gibbs-White: Seemed fired up against his former club early on but grew increasingly frustrated as the night went on. That headed chance with 15 minutes gone was his moment; like every other one Forest had, it went begging. Rating: 5.5/10
Callum Hudson-Odoi: Looked desperately short of confidence. Saw plenty of the ball but his passes and efforts at goal lacked conviction - no more so than when Gibbs-White played him in shortly after half-time and his tame shot was gobbled up by the keeper. Rating: 4/10
Lorenzo Lucca: Will that miss from Forest’s first-half six on one break go down as one of the defining moments of the season? It wasn’t necessarily the best ball from Hudson-Odoi, but how the Italian failed to score from it was still a head-scratcher. Rating: 5/10
Subs
Dan Ndoye (for Hudson-Odoi, 64mins): Summed up the Reds’ night with an acrobatic effort that was nowhere near the target. A few positive moments but still not enough. Rating: 5/10
Igor Jesus (for Lucca, 71mins): Denied by the Wolves keeper late on but barely had a look-in otherwise. A tough night all round. Rating: 5/10
Subs not used: Gunn, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Yates, Jair, McAtee, Netz.
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