O’Neill laments ‘learning curve’ after defeat on Forest return

Martin O’Neill admitted it was a big learning curve for him as he suffered defeat on his return to Nottingham Forest as manager, with Bristol City spoiling the City Ground party with a 1-0 win.

Lee Johnson’s side were more comfortable than the narrow scoreline might suggest, as they notched up a fifth straight victory and an 11th game unbeaten, thanks to a crisp, precise finish from Famara Diedhiou in the 70th minute.

Forest did have flashes of menace in front of a sell-out crowd, but were thwarted by some wayward finishing and some good saves from Frank Fielding, when they did hit the target.

“I was hoping that today, with the crowd right behind us and with that momentum, we could find a bit of strength,” said O’Neill. “We will think about a lot of things over the coming week. But this is a learning curve for me and it is about players getting to know me as well.

“The players are very disappointed in the dressing room. We would have liked to have got a win and I would have liked to have got a win myself. But I don’t want them to be too disheartened.

“It has been a tough couple of weeks. The players have lost a manager (in Aitor Karanka) and they were trying to adapt to a new system. Maybe we will go back; maybe we will change things around again. But I have a little bit of time to work on things like that.”

Forest switched to an orthodox 4-4-2 for the game, but seemed to struggle to adapt.

“The team were tentative in the first half. But perhaps that was to be expected. Maybe they were over anxious and trying to impress a new manager. Whatever it was, I thought we were on the back foot for most of the first half,” said O’Neill. “But, overall, this was a big learning curve for me.

“We played two up top, which I hoped would put us on the front foot; that we would be able to play off Murphy and Grabban. In the second half we got more momentum going.

They have generally played with one up front, most of the time, so to change that is a difficult thing to do, particularly with only a few training sessions.

Elsewhere, Leeds’ lead at the top of the Championship table is down to only one point after Marcelo Bielsa’s side suffered a 2-1 defeat at Stoke.

A controversial week, in which head coach Bielsa admitted to having all their opponents watched in training, got no better at the bet365 Stadium as second-half goals from Sam Clucas and Joe Allen gave Nathan Jones his first win as Stoke manager.

Allen scored after Leeds had Pontus Jansson sent off, but they still managed to get on the scoresheet with 10 men, Ezgjan Alioski replying deep into stoppage time.

Middlesbrough had the chance to make things even more congested in the race for the automatic promotion place, but they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Millwall.

Jed Wallace put the Lions in front in the first half and it looked like it would be enough for all the points, until Jordan Hugill’s last-minute penalty levelled things up.

Derby maintained their grip on the final play-off spot with a 2-1 win against Reading. Duane Holmes and Harry Wilson gave the Rams the half-time lead at Pride Park before substitute Sone Aluko pulled a goal back for Reading, who remain in the relegation zone.

Hull saw their six-game winning run in the Championship halted by a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa, but the point moved them up two places to eighth in the table.

The Tigers looked on course to extend their victorious streak when goals from Jarrod Bowen and Goebel Evandro put them in control. However, James Chester headed Villa back into the match just before half-time and Tammy Abraham netted the equaliser after 64 minutes.

Ipswich stay rooted to the bottom of the table after a 2-0 loss at Blackburn. Danny Graham, from the penalty spot, and substitute Joe Nuttall were on the scoresheet for Rovers, who slip to ninth.

Rotherham remain just above the bottom three after losing 4-2 at home to Brentford, who led after only two minutes through Kamohelo Mokotjo’s strike. Jon Taylor equalised to send the Millers into the break level but Said Benrahma quickly restored the Bees’ advantage in the second half.

A Ezri Konsa own goal got Rotherham all-square once more but Mokotjo and Neal Maupay struck again to extend Brentford’s unbeaten league run to six games.

Steven Fletcher’s 62nd-minute goal saw Sheffield Wednesday defeat Wigan 1-0 at Hillsborough while Preston pulled away from relegation danger after winning 4-1 at QPR.