Sabri Lamouchi was keen to shield his players from criticism after Wigan Athletic brought Nottingham Forest’s ten match unbeaten run to an unceremonious halt. In a post-match interview with Nottinghamshire Live, the Frenchman admitted a tactical misjudgement on his part.

Lamouchi switched to a 4-4-2, using left-back Yuri Ribeiro as an auxiliary right-midfielder and omitting talisman Lewis Grabban from the starting XI. Yet, despite the lacklustre performance, he maintained the feeling that his side still deserved at least a point from the match.

Wigan, continuing their fantastic home form, started the brighter of two sides, notching a number of quality chances until Jamal Lowe finally opened the scoring in the 35th minute with his first goal of the season.

Despite Rafa Mir spurning two enticing chances on goal, Forest laboured throughout the first half, their passing wayward and looking disjointed in the new 4-4-2 system.  The introduction of Tiago Silva in the second half brought balance to the side after a turgid performance from John Bostock in midfield, yet Wigan were well-organised at the back and defended stoically to see out the victory.

The loss sees Forest slip to fourth, but only one point off the automatic promotion spots. Spirits remain high on the banks of the Trent. Forest’s next two fixtures are home games against Hull City and Reading, which, with aspirations of promotion, they should be looking to take six points out of. Lamouchi - September’s manager of the month - has exceeded expectations among the fan base, so one defeat will do little to derail the faith in the Frenchman. 

“Maybe I was wrong [with the  lineup], I don’t think so but maybe,” he explained to Nottinghamshire Live. “It was a tactical choice.”

”When you play two games at home, you need to be fresh. In six days we play three games, so there wasn’t lots of options. With Grabban, it was clear I needed to think about the upcoming matches not just this one. I had the responsibility to choose [which game he was rested].”

However, Lamouchi was adamant that the Reds should have taken at least a point back to the East Midlands. “The way we started the game was good, in the first 20 minutes to half an hour. Unfortunately, we give them one opportunity and they score.”

”We tried a lot in the second half. We took a lot of risks, but missed a lot and this can happen. It was not the worst performance from our side, but the worst result.

”The result is clear, but I don’t think we deserved it. A draw, at least, is more logical. But congratulations to Wigan.”