Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest: Sean Dyche keeps faith in struggling visitors despite fourth successive Premier League defeat

Sean Dyche has claimed that Nottingham Forest were close to executing their game plan perfectly against Aston Villa.

The East Midlands outfit went down to a 3-1 defeat to one of the in-form teams in the Premier League as Ollie Watkins and a John McGinn double made the difference.

Despite Morgan Gibbs-White halving the deficit at one point in the second half, Forest were well beaten as they suffered a fourth successive top-flight defeat.

Forest had been within seconds of reaching half time on level terms, only for Watkins to turn and shoot from the edge of the penalty area to give Villa the lead.

Speaking to Match of the Day, Dyche suggested that the visitors had been on the brink of doing everything asked of them in the opening 45 minutes.

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Dyche rues Forest's "basic errors"

Dyche said: "Very frustrating for us. We delivered the first half as I wished they would until the last moment of truth.

"Credit to them, really good turn and finish. The second goal was a basic mistake and we could have defended better. We scored a very good goal and then gave away another poor goal.

"You can't give basic errors away to teams like this in the Premier League. The mentality is there but you can't keep giving yourself a mountain to climb.

"Players were switching off to the basics, we have worked on it and shown them but this is the job. I never expected it to be easy when I got here."

While Villa's second was a neat finish from McGinn, the Scot's second was a consequence of Forest goalkeeper being left stranded out of his goal and the midfielder slotting home from 45 yards.

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Is Dyche under pressure at Forest?

Dyche has put together a record of seven wins, two draws and seven defeats in his 16 matches since replacing Ange Postecoglou.

However, all seven losses have come across 12 Premier League fixtures, Forest accumulating 13 points across his time in charge.

There had been hope that Dyche could move Forest up the top-flight standings, yet they remain in 17th position and three points adrift of 16th spot.

With Dyche the third Forest head coach this season, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that owner Evangelos Marinakis could consider yet another change if Forest do not end their four-game Premier League losing streak anytime soon.