Nottingham Forest knocked out of FA Cup: Boss Sean Dyche fuming at ‘unacceptable’ first half at Wrexham

Sean Dyche has invited some of his Nottingham Forest Players should ‘take a look in the mirror’ after an ‘unacceptable’ performance in the first half FA Cup loss in Wrexham.

Forest were the first Premier League team to reach the third round and the first to be victimized by lower league opponents.

After making eight changes to the lineup for Tuesday’s win over West Ham in the English Premier League, Daichi watched angrily as his team trailed their Championship rivals 2-0 at the end of the first half.

They fought back to make it 3-3 and force extra time at Stoke Cay Ras, but were beaten 4-3 in the penalty shootout after goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo saved penalties from Igor Jesus and Omari Hutchinson.

“The first half was completely unacceptable,” Dyche told TNT Sports.

“I told the players, there are certain individuals who definitely know that and they should look in the mirror.

He added: “But it is a strange thing in football that some of the players who participated in the second half took credit for that, and we continued to advance and looked like we were a team in the English Premier League.”

“You can’t do that in the first half, it’s absolutely unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to me, but I said you have to look in the mirror because that’s not acceptable for the badge either.

“They’re all knocking on the door and saying: ‘Why don’t I play?’ Well, the evidence is there for some, not for everyone.”

While Daichi praised those who came off the bench – including Callum Hudson-Odoi, who scored twice – for acting as a “catalyst” for their second-half comeback, he continued to berate his side’s efforts in a poor first 45 minutes.

“I could have taken them all off [at half-time]He added, “The rhythm and mentality in dealing with the match were severely lacking in the first half.”

“Slowly and methodically, we put a lot of work into it. There was basically no intention, no real desire to make a difference. In the second half, the changes were fantastic.

“The facts of the matter are we have to make changes. They have shown their hand and they are not going to knock on my door saying: ‘Why don’t I play?’ “Again, that’s for sure, that group in the first half.”