Wednesday 11 February 2015 23:14, UK
New Nottingham Forest boss Dougie Freedman admitted an injury suffered by Britt Assombalonga had taken the gloss off his side's 3-0 win over Wigan, but was nevertheless pleased to get a convincing victory in his first home game in charge.
Assombalonga opened the scoring for Forest in the 33rd minute with his 15th goal of the season but, following further goals from Chris Burke and Henri Lansbury, he then injured his knee when firing wide midway through the second half.
Freedman is a little in the dark as to the extent of the injury, saying: "We don't know exactly how bad it is yet, but he will go for an MRI scan in the morning. Then the doctor will give me his opinion on what's happening. He will get a second reading and will let me know by Friday.
"He slipped as he went to shoot and his knee gave way on the grass. We're looking at least a few weeks, but we don't really know.
"I felt it dampened the crowd a little bit and both sides went very null and just wanted to finish the game. I was, though, so pleased for the fans that saw a convincing win, three different goalscorers, a clean sheet and a committed performance."
With two wins out of two and six goals scored, Freedman revealed he could not be happier at how well his first week has gone.
He added: "As a coach, I am very pleased with what I have seen. The players have taken things on board and they are very committed to the team ethic. We are going to try and build on these results and performances.
"We have to make sure we keep winning games of football now, although I admit that we won't win every match."
Compared to predecessor Stuart Pearce's rousing reception for his first match in charge at the City Ground, it was a low-key arrival for the tracksuited Freedman, with a smattering of polite applause greeting the Scot's entrance.
He watched as his new charges dominated against a Wigan side with just one win in their last 16 games and Forest duly opened the scoring when Assombalonga latched on to Burke's through ball to fire a shot past Ali Al Habsi.
Burke then made it 2-0 early in the second half after some terrific work down the left flank by Michail Antonio, before Lansbury curled a delightful shot inside Al Habsi's left-hand upright from the edge of the box.
But then came Assombalonga's injury, slipping on the turf after he fired an effort narrowly wide, and that pretty much took the winds out of Forest's sails.
Wigan's best spell came in the last five minutes, when they went close through Leon Clarke and James McClean, but manager Malky Mackay was not happy with their display as the defeat leaves them still eight points adrift of safety.
"I was disappointed with the result and performance," he said, clearly angered by what he had witnessed. "We lost a poor goal and then we had too many players below par. Players have to take responsibility and there wasn't enough of that, and not enough quality.
"We had two or three who passed muster, but the rest were not up to it.
"We have to make sure we give our fans who travel to Reading for our next game a better display than that."
