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Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou ends unwanted 79-year streak in Europa League draw with Real Betis

'Plenty of positives' for Postecoglou despite ending unwanted 79-year Forest streak in Betis draw

Nottingham Forest head coach Ange Postecoglou has insisted that there are 'plenty of positives' to take from his side's 2-2 draw with Real Betis in the Europa League on Wednesday night.

That is despite the Greek-Australian ending an unwanted 79-year streak as the Premier League outfit were pegged back by their La Liga counterparts.

Cedric Bakambu had given Real Betis a 15th-minute lead before a double from Igor Jesus overturned matters across the next eight minutes.

Forest had seemed on course for a famous victory in Seville, only for Antony to strike five minutes from time to earn the home side a share of the spoils.

 

 

Real Betis's comeback ensured that Postecoglou has gone four games without a win at the start of his Forest reign.

In doing so, Postecoglou becomes the first permanent manager since Billy Walker in 1946 to fail to get a victory on the board across that amount of fixtures at the beginning of his stint in the dugout.

Nevertheless, Postecoglou has spoken highly of his team for their performance at Estadio La Cartuja, aside from acknowledging that Forest should have "put the game to bed".

He told TNT Sports: "First, I should be proud of the players' efforts. It's a difficult place to come, difficult conditions.

"People don't realise the humidity out there and how energy sapping it is, even the pitch, and I thought our football was outstanding at times in the first half. The thing I could fault is we didn't put the game to bed.

"In the second half we had to sit off a little bit and defend. I never really felt threatened by it and I don't think Sels had many saves to make.

"I'm just disappointed that the players and supporters don't get the rewards for our efforts. I've just got to make sure they keep their heads up because there's plenty to be positive about and the wins will come."

What next for Forest?

On Saturday night, Forest will finally play their first home fixture under Postecoglou, playing host to Sunderland in the Premier League.

That is followed by their second Europa League fixture of the campaign against Midtjylland, before going into the October international break with a trip to face Newcastle United.

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