Nottingham Forest head coach Sabri Lamouchi was delighted with his players after they secured a third win in a row to beat Blackburn Rovers 3-2 at The City Ground this afternoon.
Joe Lolley gave Forest the lead before Lewis Grabban’s brace, either side of a Stewart Downing strike and Joe Worrall’s own-goal ensured a New Year’s Day victory for The Reds and Lamouchi believes that his side have began 2020 in the best possible way.
Speaking after the game, he said: “Nine points, three victories. We finished last year in the best way. We start the new year in the best way. Three victories in a row – nine points – and I can’t ask for more.
“We started the game in a good way. We played so well. We created some chances and we scored. The mistake from us was at 2-0 to think the game would be more easy and we can score three, four, five goals today. We gave them the possibility to come back into the game. It was just a mistake because after that we were a little bit panicky.
“The possession was not good. But during the break we changed two,or three things and we started the second half in a good way. It was a fantastic goal from Grabban and the delivery from Sammy was lovely.
"We controlled the game. What I asked of the players was that they fight until the end and they work hard. Three games in one week at Christmas time is very busy with a lot of games.
“Of course the players were a little bit tired but they deserved this victory. Congratulations to them because they deserved this victory and for our fans to start the year with this victory is very positive.”
The result sees Forest move up to fourth in Sky Bet Championship and Lamouchi insists that they need to be mentally ready for every test in a tough league.
He said: “It’s a fantastic league but so tough for everybody. Mentally we need to be ready and my team, my players today; they won. They wanted the victory more than the opponent and I’m so happy for that because it’s positive for the rest of the season. Keep going.”