Latest Nottingham Forest news as Steve Cooper’s Reds draw 1-1 with Brentford at the City Ground

Head coach Steve Cooper took issue with Moussa Niakhate’s red card as Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Brentford.

The Reds were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when the centre-back was sent off for a second bookable offence. But they managed to come from behind to claim a point, with Nicolas Dominguez cancelling out Christian Norgaard’s opener.

Norgaard scored from the free-kick awarded from Niakhate’s foul on Yoane Wissa which earned him a second yellow from referee Paul Tierney. However, Cooper felt the incident didn’t deserve a booking.

“Because of the way we started the second half, if it had stayed with 11 men – and it should have stayed with 11 men – the game would have settled and we would have got the impetus back,” he said. “There was a real opportunity to create moments in the game, but it was a different game with the red card.

“If he doesn’t give the second yellow, nobody mentions it. All of your colleagues on TV and radio have said the same. With it being the only Premier League game of the day, the PGMOL needed a real clean day – and unfortunately they got the opposite.

“We want to help referees. We will moan and complain as much as anyone else – that’s just the nature of it. We try to do it respectfully, but that is sometimes hard. But they have got to help themselves

“I’m annoyed with the first yellow for Moussa. He shouldn’t have lunged in. He shouldn’t have got himself on a yellow – it was the right decision – and to give a free-kick away in that position is something we’d talked about not doing. It was silly, because they are a set-piece team.

“But the second yellow is just… It wouldn’t have got mentioned by anyone if he had just given a free-kick. You need know-how and you need football understanding to see that. It’s a contact game.

“Some (decisions) have gone for us, so I am not sitting here saying we’re hard done by. We all want refereeing to be at the right level and we all want to help them, but they have to help themselves. The last thing they needed today was talking points about decision making.

“Let’s work together and we will help. Some things have gone in our favour, not as much as have gone against us. This league is amazing and every part of it needs to be at that level.”