Pereira ‘frustrated’ but ‘very confident’ after Nottingham Forest lose late to Liverpool | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira admitted he was “angry with football” after his side conceded a stoppage-time winner against Liverpool, but insisted he remains confident Forest can win their fight for survival.

A 98th-minute goal from Alexis Mac Allister leaves Forest 17th in the table, just two points above West Ham United, who have lost only one of their last five matches.

“I’m frustrated. Frustrated inside. Angry with football,” Pereira admitted. 

“But, it’s time to keep the mentality to come back stronger and with confidence to face the future because, you know, the first half we played in the way that we played in Istanbul, but we didn’t score the goals. We didn’t score the chance that we created. We created two good chances to score, but we didn’t.”

Asked whether there were any positives to take from the performance, the former Wolves manager found it hard to reflect positively.

“No, it’s very difficult,” he admitted.

“I’m very frustrated today and it’s very difficult to go inside the dressing room. What can I say to them?

“They try everything to win the game, even after we conceded the first goal, we had the chance to score firstly, because we had the chance to shoot outside and try, because we want to win the game, we want to win the game.

“In the end it was not one point, it was zero and this is difficult, but this is football. Football is not… we don’t have time to complain about the end, we need to, about this game, we need to put our focus on the next game.”

Forest now turn their attention to the Europa League, where they hold a three-goal advantage ahead of the second leg against Turkish giants Fenerbahçe.

However, the priority remains the league, with a crucial trip to Brighton next weekend. 

Despite his frustration, Pereira insists he believes his squad has enough quality to stay up.

“Of course, of course, [I am] very confident, very confident,” he said.

“I’m frustrated, but very confident because if we keep this mentality, if we keep this ambition, and the organisation, we’ll get points for sure.”