The victory was completed via second-half strikes from Sammy Ameobi and Lewis Grabban, with James McClean's 84th-minute header too little too late.

Describing himself as "a big, bold, strong character", Jones is not prepared to fall on his sword despite his side's wretched run of form.

"I don't think there was much wrong with the performance apart from the errors, three big errors, and that's been the same for the nine games (in the league this season)," said Jones.

"Look, I speak to the board regularly. If anyone thinks I can't change this then I've got no problem. I know it's a results-based business so I'm not going to hang around if I'm not wanted.

"But I know we do good work, great work. Yet there has to come a point where certain people have to take responsibility.

"I will take responsibility for anything, I have to. I work hard, long hours, we're thorough, we pick sides to win games, front-footed sides.

"I believe I'm doing my job but I'm not getting results – which ultimately is what it's about."

The win for a Forest side – now unbeaten in the league since the opening game of the season – fired the club to the top of the table, yet manager Sabri Lamouchi is baffled by what he sees as his side's lack of confidence.

Lamouchi said: "I'm satisfied with the three goals, the three points and the fact we're top of the league, but we need to do more with the performance.

"By chance, we came back into the game, and the second half was good for us but we never controlled the game and we made a lot of mistakes, gave away a lot of chances which led to critical situations.

"We cannot suffer like this. With the ball, we have a lot of great players and I am happy to work with them, but they need to play with more confidence, to learn to enjoy more on the pitch.

"They need to trust in the quality they have. We must play much better than we did tonight."