Boss Roy Keane felt the Blues' third successive defeat at Nottingham Forest was similar in many ways to Tuesday’s loss at Watford. The Town manager was again disappointed to concede just before the break, even if Lewis McGugan’s freekick was a 35-yard thunderbolt.
Keane said: "It was similar to the Watford game and the match up here against Forest last year when it ended up 3-0.
"When it’s 2-0 you’re gambling. If we’d got back to 2-1 we’d have had a chance, but then again the way we were attacking at the end we could have lost by three or four because we were taking chances.”
Despite acknowledging that Lewis McGugan’s goal was a superb strike, Keane was disappointed to again concede on half-time: "People will look at it as a good goal from the boy and I wouldn’t begrudge him his bit of glory but we should have seen out the first half, the same as on Tuesday. Déjà vu.
"Forest you could say took their foot of the pedal a little bit after the break, but I’m OK with the players. Two bad goals, some generally good play from us, but you’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net and we’ve not done that again.”
The Town boss says current results have been a bit harsh on his side: "It’s just not happening for us at the moment. I don’t think we’re getting what we deserve. That’s three defeats in a row. Against Coventry I think we could have got something, at Watford I think we could have got something and I think we could have got something today.
"We had one or two half-chances, the one that hit the bar and came out and the lad blocked it on the line. At the turning points in games we’re just not getting the breaks.
"We kept getting in there, but having said that I think their keeper’s made only one or two saves. It’s not as if we’re getting their keeper man of the match, the same the other night.
"I don’t remember the opposition keepers making too many saves. As much as we’re getting in good positions, it’s just the final ball or the final touch [which is letting us down]. He made a good save from Connor, but other than that he didn’t have much to do.”
Keane said that striker Jason Scotland was always expected to play only the first 45 minutes and that the Trinidadian wasn’t injured, despite being on the end of a heavy challenge.
Forest boss Billy Davies, who revealed that goalscorer McGugan had been laid low with illness earlier in the week, was delighted with the midfielder’s stunning freekick: "It was a great strike, fantastic. If it’s not the goal of the season, it’s one of them. It was a wonderful goal.
"A lot pleased me today. I thought the back five were excellent considering they played out of position and they had to shuffle it around.
"It was nice to see David McGoldrick coming into the side and getting his goal, that will do him a lot of good and give him a lot of confidence.
"I thought that throughout the side we worked very hard and showed good quality and good fitness and great determination. It’s a pleasing three points for us.”