Nottingham Forest boss Dougie Freedman felt his side’s 2-1 win at QPR was the perfect response to the sale of Michail Antonio.
Three of Forest’s new signings were involved in the winning goal at Loftus Road, where Ryan Mendes combined with Chris O’Grady to set up substitute Nelson Oliveira.
Forest’s first away win since February was an encouraging sign for Freedman’s new-look team in the wake of Antonio’s departure to West Ham.
“We had to sell our best player, if not the best player in the division, but I think we recruited very well,” Freedman said.
“We’re not a one-man club. Nottingham Forest has been around for many years and has a great history.
“We’re working in difficult circumstances but don’t complain about it and are looking to move forward.”
Charlie Austin fired QPR ahead midway through the second half but it all went wrong for them when Rob Green failed to deal with Nedum Onuoha’s back-pass and pulled down O’Grady.
The Rangers keeper was sent off, Henri Lansbury drilled home the resulting penalty, and Forest then went ahead.
“I felt we were the better side and deserved to win the game,” Freedman argued.
“We played some fabulous football in the first half and took the sting out of the crowd.
“QPR had a 15-minute spell in the second half but even when it was 11 versus 11 I felt were we playing well.
“Obviously the sending-off helped, although I felt that but for a trademark goal from Charlie Austin we were the better team.
“The substitution of Michael Mancienne (who was injured) upset things for us because we wanted to keep our shape.
“That and the QPR goal were setbacks but we came back and the new lads contributed very well.”
This post was last modified on 12/09/2015