It was Coventry City’s first Premier League win after four straight defeats, and it left Forest without a goal in four league games despite peppering the visitors’ goal at the City Ground.
Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner told the club’s website that he could not fault his players’ effort, but felt the weight of last season returning.
“Very disappointing and very frustrating. But I think everyone could see the players tried everything until the final whistle to get the equaliser.
“Maybe for the first time I felt the heaviness of last year. It was quiet in the dressing room; everyone expected us to win after the good performance at Villa Park, and playing a promoted team at home in Coventry.
“The players got nervous, the City Ground was nervous. But the effort was there. The players tried and tried, but when you are in a rush, you can get nervous and you make wrong decisions.
“It’s the fourth game without scoring a goal, and we cannot be pleased with this situation.”
Coventry City manager Frank Lampard, speaking to Sky Sports, was delighted with the way his team worked for the result.
“I feel great, I feel amazing. The way the players worked for it. Tough place to come we knew that having lost our first four games all in different circumstances it’s easy to think negatively and think where is the goal and where it the win coming from?
“The reality in football is you have to fight for it, you have to work for it, you have to have organisation.
“The first half we played well and I just wondered if we had enough conviction to score a goal and that’s what I said to them at half-time and Jay [Dasilva] popped up.”
Lampard admitted he feared the goal at the other end would be given.
“I was worried. I went back to the bench and they said it looked like he’d stumbled but as they took time on it you can see he has that step on him which puts him off balance and it’s a foul. It’s VAR getting the right decision.”
He added:
“It’s huge mentally for the team. We are a team with a lot of players having their first stint in Premier League football. Not everyone is a Wayne Rooney or a superstar that can just own it. This can now hopefully give us confidence. The boys today have shown they can do it.”