Nottingham Forest have kicked off the new Championship season with a win by beating Blackpool 2-0 at the County Ground in Stuart Pearce's first game in charge.
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First-half strikes from debutants Michail Antonio and Chris Burke sent Forest well on their way against a depleted Blackpool side, who could name just four substitutes on the bench following a turbulent summer.
The Seasiders nearly had their turmoil compounded on eight minutes when Antonio headed a Burke cross wide of the mark.
Jose Riga's side settled, however, and fired a warning shot at the Reds when Nathan Delfouneso headed a John Lundstram free kick into the side-netting.
They failed to build on that promise and Antonio bagged the first goal of the Pearce era on 25 minutes, drilling underneath goalkeeper Joe Lewis after Andy Reid struck the post.
It got worse for Blackpool five minutes later as Burke added a second by curling beyond the reach of Lewis from outside the area to give Riga's men a mountain to climb.
Britt Assombalonga should have followed his teammates in bagging debut goals, but the former Peterborough United hitman was denied by Lewis on 52 minutes.
Blackpool refused to go quietly, though, as Andrea Orlandi came close to halving the deficit on two occasions, while Jacob Mellis then forced Karl Darlow into a smart save.
However, their pressure petered out and Nottingham Forest held on to mark the beginning of the new season in winning style.
Shane Callaghan
