Sean Dyche rues ‘down day’ for Nottingham Forest but frustrated by corner call | OneFootball

New Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche blamed a “collective down day” and a “really poor decision” after his side slumped to a 2-0 defeat to high-flying Bournemouth in his first Premier League contest in charge.

Forest failed to build on the momentum generated by their Europa League victory on Thursday night, their first across all competitions since August, after goals from Marcus Tavernier and Junior Kroupi lifted the Cherries to second place in the table.

Tavernier’s opener, scored directly from a corner, did not arrive without controversy. Replays appeared to show the goalscorer might have been the last to touch the ball before the set-piece was awarded.

Dyche said: “The first half we looked flat and there was not that energy or that spark. We just couldn’t raise that edge that you need to play, and then the second half was slightly better.

“But I think it’s compounded by a really poor decision which goes against us, I end up getting booked for no reason, in my opinion, because it’s clearly the wrong decision, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

“Dealing with these setbacks are part of what football is, and certainly in the Premier League you’ve got to deal with them, and we didn’t deal with them very well today.”

Dyche admitted it was “incredibly frustrating” that VAR cannot be involved in decisions about corners, but felt the hosts were “the better side overall, and deserved to be in front at half-time, so no excuses there”.

He added: “I call it a collective down day from the off. When you get a collective down day it’s the hardest thing to change whilst the game is going on, and half-time is your first break to actually change it.

“I was pleased with that side of it when we did make decisions. I thought the second half was a stronger performance.”

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola insisted it would be premature to celebrate the Cherries’ standing in the top flight.

“For me, the 18 points is the most important thing,” he said. “We’ll play (Manchester) City away and (Aston) Villa away before the break. I would like to add more points.

“I don’t care about the positions right now. The league is so compact that one win, one loss, you go five, six positions up and down, so now it’s about the performances, how competitive we are.

“We will try to add what I know is going to be very difficult, to add more points before the break.”