Thomas Frank delivers very different verdict on Nottingham Forest victory at Brentford

Latest Nottingham Forest news from NottinghamshireLive as Bees boss takes a defiant stance after seeing his side surrender their unbeaten home record to the Reds.

A defiant Thomas Frank insisted Brentford “were on top” against Nottingham Forest but ultimately surrendered their unbeaten home record by failing to take the “chance, after chance, after chance” they created at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Ola Aina and Anthony Elanga scored goals in either half to send Forest to a 2-0 win, their third victory in a row in the league as they continued their remarkable transformation from relegation candidates last season to European contenders this term.

Forest became the first team to leave west London with a clean sheet, while Brentford’s fantastic run of seven wins from eight at home was also stopped by the loss.
Frank acknowledged that the visitors had played good defense, but he was still not prepared to accept that the superior team had won.

He told the Brentford club website: “We played a game where, in big spells, we dominated and were on top. We lacked the cutting edge to take chance, after chance, after chance – but I thought it was enough to score at least one goal.

“Nottingham Forest defended well in big spells – they also played 5-4-1, which is the first time they’ve done that this season, even after going to Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, where they played a four-man defence. That’s a big credit to what we’ve done.

Naturally, we must take that lesson to heart and figure out a better way to handle it going forward. I still believe we accomplished enough to play the same game over and have a different result.

Along with their wins at Old Trafford and Anfield, as well as their draw at Stamford Bridge, this was Forest’s seventh league victory in ten games. Next up is a Boxing Day (3pm) home matchup with Tottenham.
“It’s a result business, and it’s definitely more fun to win,” Frank continued. We gave a strong performance, and I believe we outperformed the third-place team. Despite having no offensive edge, we created risky scenarios.

“What we gave away in this game was very little, and in that sense we were very good, but Nottingham defended very well.”