Aitor Karanka not fooled by Nottingham Forest’s unbeaten run

Nottingham Forest cannot continue to “fool themselves” by using their unbeaten status to gloss over poor performances, warns Aitor Karanka.

The Reds boss was unhappy despite watching his side stage a dramatic comeback from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Birmingham at the City Ground.

Garry Monk’s Blues looked to be on course for their first Championship win of the season – and Forest headed for their first defeat – thanks to goals from Lukas Jutkiewicz and Che Adams.

But Joe Lolley celebrated his birthday by coming off the bench to score with his first touch in the 75th minute, before having a hand in Daryl Murphy’s equaliser three minutes from the end.

“We are disappointed because we cannot keep fooling ourselves by just talking about being unbeaten,” said Karanka.

“We have to improve a lot. I was expecting this game to be a reflection of the good work we had done on the training ground – and this was the opposite.

“We did not play in our style, we played in a style that suited them and that they were much more able to play. They were more aggressive than us. We need to learn and we need to keep improving.

“Maybe some people are happy because we have equalised in the last moments of the game – but it is not enough. We have to keep working. We have to work harder.”

Joao Carvalho, Ben Osborn and Lolley all made an impact after coming off the bench – but Karanka wants to see more from his starting XI.

“I am really pleased with the impact made by the subs,” said Karanka.  “But I would like to start a game and see the players have an impact from the very beginning of games.

“We didn’t just start poorly – we were poor for 75 minutes. It was not just the beginning of the game. It is something we need to fix as soon as possible.”

Monk said he was proud of his players, despite seeing them denied their first win of the season.

“I’m very proud of my players,” he said. “It’s been a very tough week for them and they’ve not got their just rewards.

“We dominated and controlled this match and we deserved to win it. We took our chances but we could have done better with their two goals – and that’s cost us all three points.

“But we were tremendous. We have a very young team and they are giving everything for the shirt.

“We made Forest look like the away team here – just as we did at Bolton. I do feel frustrated for our players.

“They came off the pitch very disappointed and there’s a lot of emotion because they put so much into it and they expect so much.

“They deserved a hell of a lot more today. We came here and did ever so well against a quality side. We showed a great mentality and we’re going in the right direction.

“We just need a bit of Lady Luck on our side. The lads are very honest, they care so much and we’ll fight as hard as we can every match.

“We can be very upbeat and there are so many positives to take from this performance.”