Chris Hughton labelled Nottingham Forest's 2-0 loss to Huddersfield Town as unacceptable as the Reds' unbeaten run came to an end on Saturday afternoon.

Forest into the weekend's clash unbeaten in their last four and looking to put further daylight between themselves and the bottom three.

They prepared to come up against a Huddersfield side who had won two league games in 2021 before yesterday, but the Terriers left the City Ground with a vital three points yesterday.

Forest failed to make their early dominance tell despite an array of chances for Filip Krovinovic, with Aaron Rowe striking in first half stoppage time.

Juninho Bacuna added a second goal on the hour mark to give Huddersfield a vital two-goal cushion.

The chances of Forest being dragged into the bottom three are still very, very slim, with there being 10 points between themselves and Rotherham United in 22nd, despite the Millers' games in hand.

Speaking to the press after yesterday's defeat, Hughton said: "What the players are aware of is that it’s not acceptable to finish this season on a low.

"We want to finish the season in the best way possible. That’s what we’ve spoken about in the last few games.

"We are still in a position where mathematically we are not safe. The players are aware of that.

"We’ve got to make sure there is a reaction come Wednesday night, which will be a very difficult game at Birmingham."

The Verdict

Hughton has spoken plenty of times about wanting to end this season strongly as it is so important to build the right mentality heading into 2021/22.

But they cannot afford to let performances like yesterday happen again. They just seemed to throw in the towel as soon as they went a goal down.

They aren't mathematically safe yet and need to make sure they are as soon as possible, because you never know what might happen at this level.