Nottingham Forest

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Brentford and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Brentford fans

Neil: We dominated but it was clear that the system wasn't going to unlock the Forest defence. Changes should have been made before Forest's second - it's been a bit of a thing with the manager not changing things when it is obviously not working. Frustrating but hey ho, onwards and upwards towards Villa next.

Tim: Could somebody tell Keith Andrews that he is allowed to change his tactics during a match, as his current approach is to play Plan A; and if that fails to do the same thing. Today we were Dyched once again, but despite Nelson and Donovan on the bench he made the same subs he always makes. Horribly flat performance.

Les: No plan B. Chelsea and Forest had three shots on target each and scored four goals. Set pieces - it's like we do not have a set piece coach. We can't seem to win balls in the air on the attacking front.

Rob: Poor performance by Bees. Insipid and out of ideas in the final third as they moved the ball too slowly and decision making/technical quality wasn't there. Forest were good for 15 minutes and probably deserved the lead at half-time, but it was two poor teams on display in the second. For some reason, Dyche has the hoodoo over us!

Forest fans

Ian: All that noise and negativity after the Braga game, trust in Dyche! It was a masterclass from him and it was only possible by his choices in midweek. Premier League survival is clearly the most important priority, the Europa League doesn't even begin to come close second. Our Europa game on Thursday is also not as important as beating Crystal Palace next Sunday. Do that and we're right back in the mix. COYR. Keep calm and carry on!

Mark: A good solid away performance. A draw would have been good, but the deserved win was hard earned.

Joe: Was that the Forest of last year again? Score an early counterattack, defend, clean sheet. Job done!

Trevor: Excellent victory for Forest - defended really well and took the chances with two brilliant finishes, top six here we come.

Pundits Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy join host Kelly Cates to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

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• Arsenal v Man Utd

• Newcastle v Aston Villa

• Crystal Palace v Chelsea

• Brentford v Nottingham Forest

Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest spent around £180m in the summer but cracking the code in front of goal has been a major problem for them this season.

No team has failed to score in more different Premier League games than Forest in 2025-26 (11) and only rock-bottom Wolves (15) have scored fewer than their tally of 23.

But crucially they registered twice on Sunday to see off Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium and boost their hopes of survival.

Summer signing Igor Jesus scored for just the second time in the league - controlling on his chest before emphatically volleying in the opener - before fellow striker Taiwo Awoniyi scored for the first time in over a year.

The goals provide relief for both manager Sean Dyche and supporters after a difficult run, but crucially victory also maintains a five-point gap to the relegation zone.

Forest, who had just one win from their previous eight games across all competitions, became just the second team after Manchester City to win at Brentford in the league this season.

Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche, spoke to BBC Match of the Day after his side's victory at Brentford: "Resilience was the most pleasing aspect. Brentford have been brilliant at home.

"It was a game of two halves. We put pressure on in the first half and had to contain them in the second.

"They had a fast start and it's not an easy task but you have to find a balance between defending resolutely and hitting on the attack."

On keeping a five-point gap over 18th-placed West Ham: "We can't do anything about other people, it's just about ourselves."

On goals for Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi: "We got a couple of very different goals. Igor took it superbly and Taiwo came on and slotted it calmly.

"The hardest job in the game is scoring as a centre-forward. I don't put pressure on them to score I just want them in the right place."

On when new striker Lorenzo Lucca will be available: "Hopefully this week. It was just paperwork."

• Listen to more from Dyche on BBC Sounds

Did you know?

• Dyche has won 30.3% of his Premier League matches in which his side have had less than 50% possession (87/287), compared to just 19.7% when his team have had 50% possession or more (12/61).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Brentford's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Brentford saw a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League ended via a 2-0 loss at Chelsea last weekend, but boss Keith Andrews sticks with the same eleven.

The Bees boast the fourth best home record in the league and climb as high as fourth in the standings if they pick up a win today.

Brentford XI: Kelleher, Henry, Ajer, Collins, Kayode, Janelt, Yarmolyuk, Damsgaard, Jensen, Schade, Thiago.

Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Van den Berg, Pinnock, Henderson, Nelson, Ouattara, Lewis-Potter, Donovan.

Sean Dyche also goes with an unchanged lineup from Nottingham Forest's last Premier League outing when they held league leaders Arsenal to a goalless draw.

Forest did play on Thursday in the Europa League, losing 1-0 at Braga, and have won just one of their last eight across all competitions.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina, Anderson, Sangare, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus.

Subs: Gunna, Morato, Awoniyi, Ndoye, Hutchinson, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Savona.

There are four games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Brentford v Nottingham Forest - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Crystal Palace v Chelsea - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Newcastle v Aston Villa - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Arsenal v Man Utd (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 14:00 GMT unless stated

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It's the teams beginning with B that I am struggling most with this season - I don't seem able to predict what Brentford, Brighton or Bournemouth will do. I am not confident about getting Brentford right this time either.

On paper, this seems pretty straightforward because they are so strong at home and Igor Thiago is in brilliant form, but I can see Nottingham Forest making it difficult for them because of the way they play.

From what I've seen of Brentford this season, their gameplan is to keep it tight and look to counter quickly but Forest will do exactly the same.

With Sean Dyche's side being so deep, they won't leave any space behind and they will also be looking to score on the break.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Brentford's excellent home form has been pivotal in their charge towards a European place this season and they will fancy their chances on Sunday against a Nottingham Forest side with just one win in their last six league games.

The seventh-placed Bees have lost just once at the Gtech Community Stadium all season, with only the current top three of Arsenal (29), Manchester City (26) and Aston Villa (25) earning more home points than the 24 amassed by Keith Andrews' side.

Bees sting late on

With Forest coming off the back of a tiring and troublesome midweek defeat in the Europa League, Brentford will be poised to utilise one of their most effective weapons this campaign – the late goal.

The west Londoners have scored 13 goals from the 75th minute onwards in league fixtures this season – more than any other top-flight club. Conversely, nobody has conceded more than Forest's 12 during the same period of games.

Having struck out on his own as the top Brazilian scorer in any Premier League season with 16, frontman Igor Thiago now has another target in his sights. The last South American player to break the 20-goal barrier in a campaign was Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, who netted 21 in 2018-19.

Dyche despairs at defeat

Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche and his players faced the wrath of their travelling support as a much-changed team slumped to a 1-0 Europa League defeat against Sporting Braga on Thursday.

Dyche put the defeat down to "one minute of madness", with Morgan Gibbs-White's penalty miss compounded by an own goal from Ryan Yates a mere 55 seconds later.

Despite his spot-kick woe on the continent, Gibbs-White's league tally of five makes him the Reds' top scorer, and, encouragingly, he has bagged a goal in each of their last two league away games.

Forest missing Wood

In the absence of last season's top scorer Chris Wood, Forest's failure to find the net is eye-catchingly pronounced – undoubtedly one of the main reasons they find themselves in 17th place, just five points clear of the drop zone.

Only rock-bottom Wolves (15) have scored fewer goals in the league than Forest's 21, and nobody has failed to find the net in more games than the 11 blanks registered by Dyche's men.

One thing the visitors can cling to is Dyche's impressive record against the Bees. The former Burnley and Everton boss has won four of his six Premier League meetings with Brentford, his highest win rate (67%) against any side he's faced more than twice.

Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium (kick-off 14:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Dyche confirmed Murillo missed Thusday's Europa League defeat with "a tight hamstring" but did not say whether he will be available for Sunday.

• Igor Jesus also received "a bang on the hip" that was too "inflamed" to play with, but Dyche is hopeful he will be in contention if it settles down.

• He said they have "had to mix and match the whole squad" to deal with the demanding fixture schedule and "there will be changes again" against Brentford.

• Dyche is "hopeful" a striker will be signed before Sunday as "there's work in progress" behind the scenes. The BBC reports they are closing in on the signing of Napoli's Lorenzo Lucca.

• More from Dyche on needing reinforcements: "I think it's quite apparent. The club are working hard. It's not like they don't know the situation and they are working hard to correct the situation. But they are willing to trade and they have backed the club financially."

• On opponents Brentford: "Their home form has been good in general. It's certainly a tough game, but every game in the Premier League is. I don't throw that around lightly."

• He said they "have to play well again" like they did against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.

• On Chelsea being interested in Douglas Luiz: "It doesn't surprise me there is interest from other clubs in good players. That's the nature of the business. It's a doubled-edged sword. You sort of want people interested in your players as that means they are doing a good job and are good players, but you don't because you don't want them coming knocking on the door."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to live commentary of Brentford vs Nottingham Forest on Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 from 14:00 GMT

Is there a more wholesome sight than one of your players flying into a tackle?

For all the creativity, smart finishing and wonder goals the Premier League can offer, few such joys would be possible were it not for those feisty fellows charging around to win the ball back for the cause.

This season, those in the graphic above top the charts for putting their foot in.

Tottenham's Joao Palhinha was seemingly born in a pair of shinpads and primed to launch in on someone, while Everton's James Garner continues to impress this season in various areas of his game - underlining why talk of an England call-up continues.

Keep an eye out for these men this weekend. Their opponents will almost certainly end up seeing more of them than they'd bargained for.

David Jackson
BBC Radio Nottingham reporter

Image source, Getty Images

I'm sitting in Porto airport, surrounded by Forest fans shaking their heads in disbelief at last night's performance.

It wasn't the defeat that hurt them, nor even the fact that they became only the second team in Europa League history to miss a penalty, score an own goal and have a man sent off in the same match.

It's the fact that after travelling complicated journeys with connecting flights and then being confronted with torrential rain for their entire stay in Braga, supporters weren't treated to a level of performance that they feel they deserved.

Any fan would agree with Sean Dyche that survival in the Premier League is the top priority. The club have waited a long time for top-flight football and they can't lose it now.

But these fans have also waited a long time to get to travel around Europe and see their team push for a major trophy.

After last night's display, when hopes of a top-eight finish drifted away, fans we've spoken to are questioning whether Forest's enthusiasm for the Europa League matches their own.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Thursday's Europa League between Sporting Braga and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Neil: I'm typing this from my hotel in Braga - this is simply not good enough. We keep hearing excuses from the manager, but ultimately the blame is collective because we keep falling short of expectations in big games. We have spent a lot of money watching this rubbish and many of us are tired of it. Too disruptive to change things now but massive overhaul of staff needed in the summer, including our negative manager.

Simon: Given the team selection and our squad weakness it would seem that we place no importance on progressing. Serious questions should be asked of those who sanctioned our summer signings.

Dave: That performance was embarrassing. It was lacklustre and tactically inept. I am quickly losing faith in Dyche. Also, the club should never have loaned out Arnaud Kalimuendo until they had back up. We are going backwards.

Ben: Be in no doubt that losing to a team who fail to register a shot on target is as bad as it sounds. I don't understand why players fighting for a place in the starting 11 show so little effort when they finally get their chance. The worst performance to date in a frankly underwhelming season. But the biggest alarm bells are off the pitch, because this match is just the latest indication of how woefully poor Forest's summer recruitment was.

Martin: A very disappointing night which left me wondering if Forest are capable of surviving in the Premier League. I have very little confidence in a manager who doesn't seem able to a get a credible performance from the team. My sympathy goes out to the fans who spent their hard-earned cash to follow the team and were let down.

Jim: Disgusting performance! A toothless performance without desire, ideas or quality. The squad is relying on very average players when rotating.

Jamie: One of the worst performances I've seen from Forest, and I've followed them for a long time now. The moment towards the end where they passed the ball around the back like a Simpsons meme was just comically bad.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves have rejected a bid from Leeds United for striker Jorgen Strand Larsen.

The offer fell well below Wolves' £40m asking price and came a number of days ago.

Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Crystal Palace have shown an interest in the player this month.

Wolves are also willing to let defender Emmanuel Agbadou leave Molineux and are in talks with Besiktas.

The Turkish side's latest offer is £13m, with Wolves looking for £17m for the Ivory Coast international who joined from Reims for £16.6m last January.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Nottingham Forest defender James Perch delivered a blunt assessment of his old club's performance after their 1-0 defeat to Braga, a result that leaves Forest 16th in the Europa League table and with a top-eight finish now almost certainly beyond reach.

Speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham after the game, Perch questioned the players' mentality and belief on a night when Morgan Gibbs-White missed a penalty, and Ryan Yates' own goal proved decisive.

"They knew coming into this game that if they put in a performance and they would get this result tonight, they would set them up nicely next week and get us into that top eight," Perch said.

"They've only got themselves to blame. They looked like they didn't want to be there, which is unacceptable. They look like they didn't believe, which again is unacceptable, knowing what's at stake. No one really looked like they wanted to go and win the game. No one took the game by the neck.

"So disappointing, especially when you're in Portugal, fans have travelled and spent a lot of money, we are in a nice stadium, and to turn up with that is shocking really, so disappointing."

Listen on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott offered a damning assessment after Nottingham Forest's defeat to Braga, describing the performance as one that fell well short of the occasion.

Speaking on TNT Sports, the former defender labelled the display collectively unacceptable and warned that the fallout could be felt beyond this match, particularly with a crucial fixture looming next week and with Elliot Anderson having received a late red card.

"The perfect way to sum it up is a mess," he told TNT Sports. "Collectively, it wasn't good enough.

"To top it off and lose someone of the stature of Anderson when you have a massive game next week is devastating.

"You often look at games and wonder if there are any positives. I don't think there are any tonight. A terrible night, terrible performance on what should have been a marvellous evening."

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche, speaking to TNT Sports: "Very frustrating. One minute of madness. A game we never looked in trouble but never dominated as much as we liked.

"We don't have a recognised centre-forward and that can make it tricky. The reaction was nowhere good enough for a minute or so. We lost the game to a really poor goal.

"There is effort here, that killer edge, we want more of that. Of course, we are in that weird situation where we have to protect players who are playing a lot of football.

"We want to do well in this competition, we still do, of course.

"It is a fine line - it is a juggling act. You want to give everyone a chance to showcase themselves.

"They are working ever so hard in training. You might come away with a draw, but you shouldn't really lose that game.

"One minute of madness cost us the game. They hardly had a real chance, then we had a goalmouth scramble and even that can't go in."

Midfielder Ryan Yates, speaking to TNT Sports: "Very disappointing. I feel we controlled most parts of the game.

"I thought we stifled them in the first half. We had opportunities to make a breakthrough, we don't. Then, I unfortunately make a mistake at the other end. Then we could never get a foothold in the game after that.

"When you get handed an opportunity and you don't take it, you get punished. I have to hold my hands up. I should have done better.

"We are frustrated as I think we have done enough to win the game. Frustrating when results don't go your way. We have missed an opportunity and that's why we're frustrated - not that we were terrible on the night.

"Fine margins. We have to keep working and put that right. We are still in a solid position in the competition. No negativity in the dressing room, that's for sure."

Did you know?

• Nottingham Forest have won just two of their last 11 away matches in major European football, with this defeat ending their prior three match unbeaten run on the road in the Europa League.

• Forest became the first English club in Europa League history to miss a penalty and score an own goal in a single match.

• In this match, Braga became just the second side in Uefa Europa League history (since 2009-10) to win a match despite failing to record a shot on target, after Lazio beat Nice in November 2017.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

What did you make of Forest's display?

Come back on Friday for a selection of your replies