First Nottingham Forest Player Addresses Sacking of Ange Postecoglou

Nottingham Forest captain Ryan Yates has spoken out after the sacking of Ange Postecoglou.

After just 39 days in charge, Postecoglou, 60, was sacked after Forest were beaten by Chelsea at the City Ground.

Goals from Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and Reece James were enough to secure a 3-0 win for Enzo Maresca's men.

A short statement from Forest, which was released under 30 minutes after the final whistle, read: "Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect.

"The Club will make no further comment at this time."

During the aftermath of the sacking, Forest skipper Yates was asked to comment on what had just occurred inside the City Ground.

The 27-year-old said to the BBC: "We’re all extremely disappointed with how recent results are going. It’s down to us individually to look at ourselves in the mirror and do everything we can to turn it around.

"That’s the nature of football. Results have not been good enough. As players we have to take massive responsibility, collectively as a group we have to do more. We have to get on the training pitch look for the 1%, the fine margins. We owe it to the fans to put in a good performance on Thursday."

Ange Postecoglou has been sacked by Nottingham Forest. Image: Getty

Yates then revealed how Postecoglou felt before he was seen leaving the stadium following his dismissal.

The Forest captain added: "He was extremely disappointed like us all. I did some running, came back in and the news was out. When you’re having such bad results it’s never a massive surprise.

"It’s disappointing for us as players. We can do more, we can do better. We need to dust ourselves down really quickly. Whatever steps the club take we need to be fully behind it."

During his time at the helm, Postecoglou failed to win any of his eight matches in charge, registering a record of two draws and six defeats across all competitions.

Forest will be back in action on Thursday night when they take on Portuguese side FC Porto in the Europa League at the City Ground.