Hutchinson: Forest have ´full belief to put things right´ in Midtjylland second leg

Omari Hutchinson says Nottingham Forest “have full belief to put things right” after falling to a 1-0 defeat against Midtjylland in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.

Forest were undone by substitute Cho Gue-Sung’s goal in the 80th minute, as he ghosted off his defender to head past Matz Sels, and send the Danish side back home with a slender advantage.

The hosts had their chances, though, registering 1.7 expected goals (xG) from 22 shots, but only six of those were on target as they struggled to break the visitors in a torrential downpour at the City Ground.

By contrast, Midtjylland got just two of their six attempts on goal, with one cleared off the line, while they also struck the bar through Valdemar Byskov in the second half.

Since Vitor Pereira’s first game in charge, no side in Europe’s top-five leagues have lost more games in all competitions than Forest (four in six games).

But Hutchinson is confident Forest can bounce back when they travel to MCH Arena next Thursday.

“Very frustrating. We had a lot of chances, and we didn’t put them to bed. And we got punished for it,” he told TNT Sports.

“We have been working on finishing in training, but today was not our day. Hopefully, we can put it right on Sunday [against Fulham in the Premier League] and next week.

“We don’t lack confidence, and the crowd was behind us. But they [Midtjylland] defended well, so credit to them.

“Every game is massive, and we do have full belief. We are training well, and the fans are sticking by us. We want to put things right.”

Across their last four matches at the City Ground in all competitions, Forest have had 88 shots, an xG of 6.4 and 126 touches in the opposition box – they have scored just once.

In fact, they have converted just 8.6% of their shots in all competitions this season – the lowest rate of any Premier League side in 2025-26.

Pereira was left frustrated by the lack of cutting edge, noting that Forest had the chances to take a first-leg lead.

“It is difficult to explain. We created so many chances to score,” Pereira told TNT Sports.

“Even if we were to draw, it would not have been fair. They had two chances, and they scored. But we had enough time, and the game was there. We had the quality to win.

“We did everything we could to score. We were just missing the goals. It is frustrating that we did not score. But I am happy with my players and the supporters, and we will try to keep the spirits and prepare for our next games.”