Nottingham Forest cruise to victory over desolate Barnsley

Nottingham Forest cruised to a 3-0 victory over bottom of the table Barnsley which moved the Reds within touching distance of the Championship play-off places.

Goals from Keinan Davis, Ryan Yates and Brennan Johnson were enough to seal the win for Forest in a game where they were never really troubled. The home side have notched up their fourth successive win in addition to another clean sheet for Steve Cook, who has slotted into the defence seamlessly since his arrival from AFC Bournemouth.

Davis opened his Forest account in the 15th minute. Picking up on some hesitation from Tykes skipper Mads Andersen, the 23-year-old got away from his man having won possession and burst into the box before slotting the ball past Barnsley goalkeeper Bradley Collins.

Once Forest got themselves ahead, it had given Barnsley a mountain to climb, who were still chasing their first away win of the season. Yates was next on the scoresheet as he was picked out by Brennan Johnson to bundle the ball in from close range following some good work by Jack Colback along the Forest left.

If anything, the Reds were a little sloppy in the second half, but despite encouraging Barnsley on, the Tykes could only register two shots on target.

Steve Cooper made a change to bring Max Lowe on and press for the killer goal which arrived shortly after as Forest went up a gear. Djed Spence was once again influential, breaking into the Barnsley box to tee up Johnson for a calm finish into the bottom corner.

It could have been more for the Reds with substitute Xande Silva failing to hit the target from close range following an excellent ball into the box from James Garner.

Reflecting on the evening, Forest manager Steve Cooper was a little agitated with his players that they did not move the ball quick enough in the second half which led to Barnsley pinning the Reds back.

“I’m pleased with the result, I enjoyed the goals and should have scored a couple more.

“I didn’t love our performance particularly in the second half, we are a much better team than what we showed.

“There were still some good bits, it was good for Djed [Spence] to get an assist and good for Keinan [Davis] to get his first goal for the club.

“Like any game, we’ll look at what’s gone well, what could be better and what can be changed for next time, so we’ll do that and pick it up and be ready for the next one.”

For all their approach work in the final third, the Tykes lacked any potency and look destined for relegation from the Championship after a poor game. Barnsley assistant manager Ferran Sibila was well aware of the task ahead and was disappointed to concede the first goal in such a casual manner.

“We knew that coming here would be a difficult night with the situation that we are in. Playing with players out of position, because of all of the injuries that we have. It’s an unfortunate situation to have as many injuries at the same time; there are too much.

“But then still, we prepared 100% and everybody had the belief that we could do something special here. And we started the game in a good way, our pressing was working well, but then we concede the goal.”

Whilst the assistant manager made much of the disruption to his plans for the evening, striker Devante Cole was not in such a forgiving mood.

“It wasn’t good enough, and that starts with us. We can’t keep saying the same thing. We have to look at ourselves. It’s silly mistakes and the same every week.

“We started well, we’re on top and we concede. It was the same at Birmingham [City].

“It’s about getting back to basics for me. We need to defend, then we must improve when we get our own chances.”

For Forest, they will visit Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon looking to move into the play-off places. They will be hoping to hang onto Brennan Johnson, having received another big-money offer from Brentford. With Lyle Taylor set to leave on an ‘imminent loan’, Forest will be looking to add to the ranks themselves.

Millwall’s Jed Wallace and Blackpool’s Josh Bowler are still said to be on Forest’s wishlist having also seen a £500,000 bid turned down from local rivals Derby County for Festy Ebosele.

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