Goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański accepted that West Ham United were by far the second best team as they fell to a disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
A first-half Chris Wood header put the Hammers on the back foot, before second-half strikes from Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina sealed the full share of the spoils for the hosts.
Edson Álvarez’s red card on the stroke of half-time, with the score 1-0, undoubtedly added to the Hammers’ task in the East Midlands, but Fabiański said the whole team need to show a reaction in training and against Everton next time out, after a poor all-round performance, particularly after the deadlock was broken in the 27th minute.
Our No1, who had little to no chance with each of the three goals, said: “It was a really tough afternoon. I think at the start of the game, in general we were in control and there weren’t many chances for either team, but after they scored we crumbled to some extent.
“It’s just an example of us not managing the game in the right way, and I think we’ve seen that on other occasions this season as well. It’s really disappointing, because we knew coming here that it was going to be a tough match and we weren’t able to keep that control.
“I think that’s up to all of us. We’ve worked on lots of different aspects of our game, but we need to lead in different ways in training and games, and step up, and it’s up to us to go away and do that now.”
The Forest game marked Fabiański’s second successive Premier League start, and fifth appearance of 2024/25 in total, and though frustrated with the result, he was as pleased as ever to be out among the action.
The 39-year-old is hoping to retain his spot between the sticks for the visit of the Toffees in a week’s time, when the Irons will be looking to sign off for the November international break in the right way, with what would be a third home win on the bounce.
Fabiański said: “I’ve played football for a long time now, and I’ve always tried to stay professional and work hard, and focus on staying prepared to play whenever I’m called upon. That’s all I can control, and then who plays is up to the manager.
“That’s my main aim, but I know there’s only one space for a goalkeeper and that these sorts of things happen in football. All you can do is keep believing and stay prepared, and thankfully I’ve been given my chance again in the last couple of weeks.
“Obviously it would be nicer if we had come away with a more positive result today, but hopefully I can play again going forward and be part of a good response to this defeat.”
