Nottingham Forest striker Daryl Murphy has claimed that the Tricky Trees fully deserved their victory against Premier League side Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.

In a statement on the Nottingham Forest website, the 35-year-old front man praised his Forest team mates after their 3-1 win in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Murphy stated: “I thought every one of the boys performed really well and, after the weekend's performance, we wanted to show that we are a good side. We started on the front foot and obviously the early goal helped settle us down.

"We've had a few performances this season where we've not been at it but I thought we changed that. We went out there and expressed ourselves and showed what a good side we can be when we play our style of football on the front foot.

"We're training hard every day and we can see the quality in this squad day in, day out. Players do need time to settle into a new squad but now we seem to be gelling together and I genuinely believe there are some good times ahead."

Murphy scored the opening goal of the game, and his 100th of his career, as Aitor Karanka’s side were victorious over superior opposition.

Despite Rafa Benitez’s side pulling one back in injury time, Matty Cash and Gil Dias earn Forest a victory with a further two late goals.

The Verdict

Nottingham Forest came into the 2018/19 Championship season as potential promotion candidates, after signing a number of new players and bolstering their squad.

Aitor Karanka’s side haven’t got off to the best to the league campaign, but this momentous victory over top flight opponents will give them a real boost going into the rest of the season.

Daryl Murphy is right to praise his team mates and the clubs work ethic, but scoring against your former side can give you a real mix bag of emotions.