Ben Watson has insisted that Nottingham Forest players will take fans' criticism "on the chin" after their 4-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.

The Reds suffered their worst home defeat in over eight years against the Owls, producing arguably their worst performance of the season so far under Sabri Lamouchi.

A first-half hat-trick from Jordan Rhodes and a close-range strike from Steven Fletcher fired Wednesday into a 4-0 lead on the stroke of half-time.

Plenty of Forest fans had seen enough at the interval, and videos were posted across social media of supporters leaving the ground in their masses.

Boos were also heard at both half-time and full-time, as the Reds faithful saw their side produce another toothless display in front of goal and succumb to another disappointing result.

Can you get 11 out of 11 on this Forest quiz?

Speaking after the game, via Nottinghamshire Live, Ben Watson responded to fans' criticism, insisting that they were well in their right to voice their discontent at the performance.

He said: "You pay your money to come watch your team win games - 4-0 down at half-time, they’re entitled to do what they want.

"You’re going to get booed, and we knew that. We’ve got to take it on the chin. It’s a free world, they can criticise, they can say what they want about players.

"But one thing we can’t get away from is that we started this season well. We were in the top six, which is where we want to be. We have a game in hand. And we’re not even halfway through the season."

Having won just one of their last six games, Forest have dropped down to eighth spot in the Sky Bet Championship table - Lamouchi's side face Huddersfield Town next weekend.

The Verdict

Fans are well in their right to voice their opinion at another disappointing performance and result at the City Ground.

They would have been desperate to see a reaction after the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough, but what they got was something much worse.

It hasn't been convincing from Forest this season whatsoever, and they need to get back to winning games comfortably as they did against the likes of Brentford.