Chris Hughton believes that the referee's decision to award Brentford a penalty at the weekend was a "soft one".

The Reds fell behind early on when Gaetan Bong pulled Ivan Toney down inside the area amid a congested box following a corner.

Forest players complained about the awarding of the penalty, but Toney stepped up to score his 28th goal of the season and put the Bees ahead.

A much-improved performance in the second half saw Forest leave West London with a point, though, with Filip Krovinovic finding the bottom corner with a calm finish from close-range.

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live after the game, Hughton admitted that he felt the awarding of the penalty was soft, given the amount of pushing and shoving we often see go unpenalised on a weekly basis.

He said: "My verdict is there’s no doubt there’s a little bit of tugging. You would see that in so many games. And not only you would see it, but referees would also see it too and in so many games referees would choose not to give a penalty.

"So I think it’s a soft one. Maybe somebody will show me a different angle that says a little bit different than what I’ve seen. But I see it is still a soft one was. I was disappointed with that but really pleased with the reaction."

Forest are winless in their last six and sit 17th in the Championship heading into the international break.

The Verdict

I do agree with Hughton a lot here.

By the letter of the law, it is a foul and it is a penalty, but we see so many pushes and shoves go against the attacking team on a weekly basis.

Forest also had a case for a penalty in the first half when Alex Mighten was adjudged to have dived, but looking back, that would have been a soft decision.

A point was probably fair in the end though, with both sides having decent chances and ending the game strongly.