Cook delighted after Wigan edge to win over high-flying Forest

Posted Monday, October 21, 2019 by PA

Paul Cook could not hide his delight at seeing his Wigan side record a third straight win at home, with high-flying Nottingham Forest their latest victims.

Jamal Lowe’s first goal for Wigan since his summer signing from Portsmouth was enough to secure all three points.

And it could and should have been even more emphatic, with Charlie Mulgrew hitting the woodwork from a free-kick just before the break.

“I thought we were good in the game, I enjoyed watching us play,” enthused the Wigan boss.

“It’s another very strong home performance, and you’d struggle to name our best player because we had so many good performers. We looked a threat against a very strong Forest side. And at the other end, we defended very, very well.

“When you have those two things coming together in a football match, it usually ends up with a good result.”

The result continued Wigan’s incredible home record, with only four away teams having won here since the start of last season.

However, over the same period, Wigan have won only twice on the road – something Cook is determined to put right.

“I’d be here for a week if I had to explain the home and away form,” he added.

“If we could only improve that form away from home, it would see us getting to a position I think we’d all be happy with.

“But it’s the same players, playing in the same formation, doing the same things we all try.

“It’s not putting the onus on the players, but if you can do it at home then you can certainly do it away.

“The challenge for us now is to marry the two records together.”

Forest manager Sabri Lamouchi made five changes for the game but denied that was a factor in the below-par performance.

He said: “Absolutely not. When I made the decision, I was thinking of the best line-up for this game.

“If you analyse the game, especially the first half hour, we started in the right way, but we made one mistake. We gave them the opportunity to score and they scored.

“After that, we created a lot of opportunities, but we missed them all. If you don’t score a goal then you have no chance of winning a game.

“Maybe a draw would have been more logical a result, but congratulations to Wigan.”

Lamouchi was also furious at referee Matt Donohue’s decision to ignore a penalty shout in either half after Sammy Ameobi and Yuri Ribeiro were sent tumbling by home defenders.

“This is not the first time this has happened,” he said.

“But two in one game? It’s too much. He was in a better position than me, though. And we must respect that decision.”

The official showed Lamouchi a yellow card in the first half for overstepping the mark with his feedback, but the Forest boss had no complaints.

“I was wrong,” he said. “It was a bad image, and the referee was totally right.”