Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka again watched his side fail to win last night, as they were held to a 1-1 home draw against Reading. 

They started slowly and went in at the break 1-0 down thanks to Omar Richards' goal but recovered to claim a point when Lee Tomlin netted his first goal for the club late on.

That Tomlin strike at least goes some way to slowly improving on Forest's recent goalscoring record which has been simply dismal but Karanka was still not impressed with the first half display.

The second half display was much improved and that has led the former Middlesbrough manager to lay down the gauntlet to his squad between now and the season's conclusion in May.

He told the Nottingham Post: "I cannot understand why we played in the way we did in the first half but in the second half, that was the game I want to see in every match.

"It can be difficult for me to understand why we do not do that from the beginning, when we have done it in the second half.

“I am delighted with the second half performance, but not with the first one. We need to go to the pitch in every game in the way we did in the second half.

"I could enjoy a game at home, in the second half. In the second half, the atmosphere was amazing. That is the atmosphere I want to have in every single game at home."

The Verdict

Karanka needs more consistency and discipline from his players if they are to become a force to be reckoned with next season.

In the more immediate future, they need to score more goals to avoid being sucked into the relegation battle.

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