Big blow for key Leeds United relegation rivals with 'minute of madness' as players booed
One of Leeds United's Premier League positional rivals looks set for a tricky few weeks next month.
One of Leeds United’s key relegation rivals are facing increased fixture congestion and growing fan anger following their midweek European defeat.
Nottingham Forest are currently sandwiched between Leeds and 18th-placed West Ham in the Premier League table, with a three-point gap up to Daniel Farke’s Whites. The East Midlands side have long been expected to climb away from danger but one win in eight across all competitions has made a relegation scrap look more likely than not.
An added complication for Forest is their Europa League campaign, with midweek commitments often preceding dropped Premier League points. And Sean Dyche’s side lost again on Thursday, this time at Braga, virtually ruling out their chances of a top-eight finish and progression straight into the last-16.
Barring a very unlikely change in the final round of fixtures next week, Forest will instead have to go through a play-off tie to make it to the knockout stages, having lost 1-0 in Portugal thanks to what Dyche described as a ‘minute of madness’. His talisman Morgan Gibbs-Whites missed a penalty early in the second-half and less than 60 seconds later, Ryan Yates put into his own net.
That means Forest will have two more midweek games to manage next month, with the two play-off legs taking place on February 19 and 26 respectively. Their February 6 meeting with Leeds will have passed by then but after those Thursday commitments, they face Liverpool and Brighton.
Those extra fixtures will do little to help Forest, who have dropped points in four of the six Premier League games so far that have followed Thursday games. After this week’s defeat in Braga, Dyche’s side head to an in-form Brentford with a fearsome home record.
Frustration growing at Nottingham Forest after latest defeat
The poor European result has also seen fan frustration intensify. A lacklustre display in Portugal was met with regular boos from the travelling fans at Braga at half-time, full-time and during the second-half with Dyche warning there will not be instant change.
“Of course they [the fans] are frustrated, I’m sure,” Dyche told NottinghamshireLive. “They want to do well in this contest. We want to do well in it but we have got two contests going on and the bigger picture has to be the Premier League just because of the power of it.
“Yes, they are frustrated and of course I understand their frustration. There was a lot of expectation this season - I know because I lived in the area even before I was manager. Despite two [new] managers and all the different players, they are still frustrated.
“I have said it is going to take time. We don’t have magic dust. We are working with these players every day to try to form into a big unit. The unit is important because of the game schedule. It isn’t just about the XI in the Premier League, it is about the whole group.”