Nottingham Forest began their 2015/16 Sky Bet Championship campaign in disappointing fashion falling to a 1-0 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium. It was a very cagey first half which saw the teams go into half-time goalless. Brighton upped the tempo in the second half and Kazenga LuaLua's low strike secured all three points for Albion.
It was the home side who started the game the more brightly out of the two teams. Tomer Hemed had a good chance to put Albion 1-0 infront but he failed to find the back of the net with his header. Forest gradually started to get themselves in the game and they came close when Henri Lansbury's well-worked free-kick agonizingly hit the outside of the post. Jamie Ward looked lively on his Forest debut after joining from local rivals Derby County and delivered in a great cross to Dexter Blackstock who failed to convert his header. Beram Kayal thought he had put Albion 1-0 up but his fantastic effort from the edge of the area bounced back off the post. Michail Antonio showed everyone why there has been so much interest in him this summer as he stormed through the Brighton half before forcing Stockdale into a decent save low to his right. Just before half-time Robert Tesche was on the end of a poor challenge from Kayal which it appears will leave him on the sideline for several weeks, the last thing Forest needed in their current situation. Forest found themselves lucky to go in 0-0 at the break as Dorus De Vries came up with an early contender for save of the season to deny Hemed from heading Albion infront.
Forest began the second half in the worst possible fashion, Kazenga LuaLua continued to cause Eric Lichaj all sorts of problems before going past him with ease and firing a low shot into the far bottom corner to put Albion 1-0 up. Henri Lansbury came close with another free kick as hit effort when fizzing over the bar. Danny Fox then stepped up for a free kick on the opposite side of the penalty area and arguably put in a contender for worst free kick of the season as it sailed miles over the bar to the disgust of Dougie Freedman in the dugout. Tyler Walker came on for Forest midway through the second half and made a good contribution. He went on a good run before his shot was saved low by Albion keeper Stockdale. Dexter Blackstock had a great chance to level for Forest as Tyler Walker headed on Michail Antonio's long throw but failed to convert when it looked easier to score. Albion then managed to comfortably retain their lead in the final moments of the match and achieve all three points.
Overall, it was an incredibly disappointing and frustrating night for Forest on the opening day of the new season. It was clear that Forest need to make additions in a range of positions most notably in the full back, central defensive midfield and attacking areas of the pitch. I thought Mills and Hobbs put a solid performance in at the heart of our defence but were let down by Lichaj and Fox on the night. Dougie Freedman will now know how important adding the likes of Michael Frey and Gary Gardner to his squad will be in the coming weeks.
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