Nottingham Forest boss Stuart Pearce
admitted he expected in-form striker Britt Assombalonga to finish off
Millwall at the death - but he had few complaints as it ended 0-0 at The
Den
.
Assombalonga spurned a great chance to win it
for Forest with a header in the final minutes while he had other good
opportunities to beat Lions keeper David Forde but could not convert.
Millwall's
best chance of victory after back-to-back defeats fell to Mathias
Ranegie from close range but he could not find the net either with the
draw keeping Forest top of the Championship.
And Pearce, who was
adamant he would not have wanted anyone else to have a last-gasp chance
than Assombalonga despite his miss, believes Forest will continue to
improve the longer the season goes on.
He said: "They generated a
bit of momentum with the fans and we had to show a defensive display and
get blocks in in a reasonably scrappy game.
"We didn't have the
cutting edge going forward that we wanted and overall I have got to be
happy with a point and a clean sheet on the road.
"As a group we
are getting better and our character is outstanding. I have to quantify
that the likes of Britt, Michail Antonio and Jamie Paterson are all
young.
"They haven't played a great deal together. It is a team in its infancy at the moment and we are improving.
"We started well and late in the game with Chris Burke foraging forward we felt that we finished well too.
"When
the ball was squared to Britt we expected him to hit the target given
his current form. We started and finished well and in between we had to
dig in, defend stoutly as a group and we did so."
Millwall
welcomed Forest to The Den having lost to Ipswich and Reading in the
space of three days and Lions boss Ian Holloway was taking comfort from
an improved showing against the Championship table-toppers.
He
said: "I was very pleased even though we have only got one point in a
week. We have played better this week than we have in some of our other
games.
"We made a couple of mistakes and when you do that and don't take a chance then this division isn't very nice.
"Sometimes a little bit of wedge here and there; £5million on a centre forward can help you. Forest are buzzing and on a roll.
"Their
manager went 4-4-2 late on which proved to me that he wanted to win it.
But he sat in and got well organised to stop us, which also tells me
that we aren't that bad.
"I was expecting goals and I told
everyone that they'd be on the edge of their seats and it would be a
high-scoring game, but how wrong am I?
"We should've had a penalty
and so should they. The save from Ranegie and (Martyn) Woolford's
chance; I could be sitting here smiling having just beaten top of the
league."
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