Defender Neco Williams reacts during Nottingham Forest's defeat to Leeds United
Defender Neco Williams reacts during Nottingham Forest's defeat to Leeds United(Image: Getty)
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Neco Williams is hopeful Nottingham Forest have shown their “worst” under Oliver Glasner and it will be onwards and upwards from now on.
The Reds defender maintained a sense of perspective after Saturday’s 1-0 reverse to Leeds United. Anton Stach acted as party pooper in Glasner’s first competitive match in charge, with his 88th-minute free-kick condemning the hosts to defeat at the City Ground.
Glasner was appointed as Vitor Pereira’s replacement in July and has got through a lot of hard work with his squad in pre-season. Although Forest couldn’t translate that into a positive result in their opening game of the 2026/27 campaign, Williams was encouraged by aspects of the team’s display and the manager’s impact since arriving at the club.
"We've had six weeks of work now and it's been really positive,” the Welshman told the BBC. “Today was the first game in the league and there's still a long, long way to go and a long road ahead.
"It's only going to get better. Hopefully that was the worst from us today, even though there were still positives to take from it.”
Glasner felt it took the Reds time to settle into the game while he had cautioned his players about the importance of set-pieces on the day. Post-match, the Austrian reiterated his belief patience is required to achieve progress Trentside.
“I think it was an OK performance from both teams,” he said. “Typical first Premier League game after a long break. We have to not bury our heads into the sand, but really now just focus on what we can improve and what we have done well.
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To get it, it's a simple one-two punch.
“For example, the situation before the free-kick, we did not do what we wanted to do. We shifted too slow, we were a little bit fatigued in the last line and then that's why at the end we had to foul. If we do what we did for 87 minutes for most of the time, we would have cleared this ball easily, and then I think I would sit here and talk about a 0-0.
“It took us 15 or 20 minutes to get better into the game, because then we moved the ball quicker, we didn't play so often into the feet and we played more into the space. And then we did better and better. This is nothing to do with the system, this is just what you have to do - play quicker, find quicker solutions.
“I think we have done better, especially in the second half. But what we have to improve, definitely, is when we enter the final third, being more direct into the box.”
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