Nottingham Forest suffer first pre-season defeat at Rio Ave

Stuart Pearce lost for the first time as Nottingham Forest boss this evening as Rio Ave beat the Championship club 1-0 in a friendly in Portugal.

After winning their first two matches of pre-season against Ilkeston and Porto II, Pearce's side were downed by Diego Lopes's second-half strike.

Forest suffered a blow in the first half when Henri Lansbury was forced off with an injury after coming off worse in a challenge with an Ave player.

Radoslaw Majewski and new boy Lars Veldwijk went close after half time for the tourists, but it was Lopes who settled the encounter 20 minutes from time by tucking home after a cross from Esmael Goncalves.

Forest begin their league campaign on August 9 with a visit from Blackpool.