Karanka impressed with displays of Forest fringe players in Bristol City draw

Posted Sunday, April 29, 2018 by PA

Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka says a few of his players might have played their way into longer-term futures at the club with their performances in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Bristol City.

The Spaniard made six changes to his line-up and gave an opportunity to players such as Andreas Bouchalakis, Daryl Murphy and Adlene Guedioura, who have found their chances limited since he took on the role in January.

And his new-look side responded with a dominant, electric display that produced everything but a goal, with a Lee Tomlin penalty among 25 efforts that failed to find the back of the net.

The point was not enough to sustain the visitors’ hopes of securing a play-off place, but it could have been far worse for Lee Johnson’s side.

“I am really pleased, because once again we were playing for nothing, but it was the last home game of the season and we wanted to finish the season in our stadium in the best way,” Karanka said. “I do not know how many chances we created, and we had a penalty.

“But we gave opportunities to different players and their attitude has been amazing. I am pleased, because this is the way I wanted to finish the season.

“We had a very good first half and the second half we had the penalty. We could not score but I was pleased with the attitude of everyone, because it is not easy. Particularly not for players like Bouchalakis, who has not been playing regularly.

“I wanted to give everyone their opportunity and they have taken that opportunity and now I have to make decisions.

“A few of them have changed my thoughts. Because when we were playing for nothing and I was giving them an opportunity, I thought we might be worse. But we showed that when we work within a structure and are compact on the pitch, every single player can be better.”

Bristol City boss Johnson said he was already looking forward to next term, after seeing their slim play-off hopes brought to an end.

And he felt the turning point of the game was the moment Nathan Baker was knocked out by a shot from Joe Lolley, forcing the Robins into a 13th-minute change.

“I am already excited about next season, so much work has been going on behind the scenes,” Johnson said.

“We have three or four young lads coming through and we hope the experience of big games like this will help them.

“I thought we started the game well, but we lost our momentum after that incident. We think Nathan is all right, but it was a knock-out blow, like a punch from Tyson Fury.

“It caught him flush right in the side of the mush and knocked him out. We have to monitor him for the next few weeks. He was clean knocked out.”

Johnson also paid tribute to keeper Frank Fielding, who made a number of important saves, including from Tomlin’s second-half spot-kick.

“You always fancy Frank in that kind of situation,” he said. “You won’t find a better shot-stopper in the division than him. It was a great save and it gave us belief that we could win.”