Boss Roy Keane felt 3-0 was harsh on his side but admitted that the Blues have a long way to go before they can compete with the likes of Nottingham Forest for the play-off places. The Town manager says Damien Delaney might miss the rest of the season after injuring his ankle at the City Ground.
Keane said: "I think 3-0 is a little bit harsh but that's football, that's the reality of it if you don't take your chances.
"The first goal was always going to be vital. I'm not sure about the decision that led to it and the deflection didn't help.
"But I was disappointed with our response - we played naive football after that and obviously Forest picked us off as you would expect with the great home record they've got.
"I thought we reacted poorly in terms of shutting up shop for five or 10 minutes.
"We don't score enough goals - Forest are where they are because they've got good attacking options, they've got strikers and can change things around.
"Our leading scorer has got six or seven goals and you're not going to get anywhere fast with that. We saw where we're at today.
"Forest showed how far we still have to go but I knew that before kick-off. We have a lot of hard work in front of us but Forest have shown what can be achieved after the progress they have made over the last year."
The Blues boss says Damien Delaney’s ankle injury may force him to miss the season’s remaining games: "It looks a sore one. He will have a scan on Monday but it looks as though there is ligament damage and that means he could be out for the rest of the season.”
Delaney’s possible absence could give Tommy Smith a run of games ahead of joining up with New Zealand’s squad for the World Cup.
Forest assistant manager David Kelly hailed boss Billy Davies’s efforts in taking another side into the play-offs: "The gaffer has produced the goods yet again.
"The players have been absolutely brilliant all season and we're delighted. I think a teetotal Scotsman [Davies] might have a glass of champagne tonight.
"He's very good at his job. He's meticulous in his preparation and he's meticulous in the information he gets on opposing teams and the players we will be up against.
"We work very hard on the training ground all the time - we train as we play, at a high tempo."
Kelly felt Forest’s second half display would have beaten anyone: "I thought we played quite well in the first half and had a few chances.
"We settled down a little bit after the break and would have beaten anybody on our second half performance today. The football was absolutely superb."