Vitor Pereira rues ‘lost opportunity’ after Nottingham Forest lose at Brighton

Vitor Pereira admitted Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton was a “lost opportunity” to climb away from relegation trouble.

Danny Welbeck’s winner kept Forest firmly in the dogfight after Morgan Gibbs-White had cancelled out Diego Gomez’s early opener for the Seagulls.

Forest, still juggling Europa League fixtures with the survival battle, remain just two points above the drop zone in what now looks like a three-way tussle with West Ham and Tottenham – both of whom also lost this weekend – to avoid finishing 18th.

With a trip to Manchester City next up, safety still feels a long way away.

“The performance, the first half was difficult,” said Pereira, who has lost both of his Premier League matches since becoming Forest’s fourth head coach of a turbulent campaign.

“Second half we adjusted the system, controlling the space, and we didn’t concede and had one or two chances to equalise.

“This is football. It is a lost opportunity to get points. The future is the next game, against City. It means recover, try to rest and prepare to face them, not thinking about the future.”

With James Milner pulling the strings again on appearance number 655, Brighton took the lead with just five minutes on the clock.

Gomez lashed a volley from an unlikely angle through the legs of defender Murillo and past Matz Sels in the Forest goal.

Eight minutes later Forest were level thanks to fabulous goal from Gibbs-White.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s clever dummy sent Igor Jesus raiding down the left  to square for the Forest captain, who took a touch before launching a rocket into the top corner from 20 yards.

However, barely two minutes had elapsed when Brighton went back ahead after Forest failed to deal with Kaoru Mitoma’s cross.

Jack Hinshelwood headed back across goal and Welbeck had time to control the ball before tucking it past Sels.

Welbeck, 35, has now scored 10 in the Premier League for the second successive season, having failed to hit double figures in any of his previous 16 top-flight campaigns.

“It’s his effort, it’s how he behaves as a professional, how he is there for the team off and on the pitch,” Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler said.

“I’ve been working with him for a couple of years now and he seems to be in his best shape ever, and for me it’s no coincidence with how hard he works.”

A first home win in two months was a boost for Hurzeler, whose team were booed off after defeat by rivals Crystal Palace last time at the Amex.

“Every win is important,” Hurzeler added. “Overall we wanted to create an energy in the stadium and we wanted to create a desire to defend and I think we showed it.

“First half we played really good football and scored some nice goals. We could have scored more goals but overall we deserved to win.”