Nottinghamshire

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Ange Postecoglou's fingerprints are across the squad already, that is clear, and there were glimpses of exactly what could come for Nottingham Forest.

Chances were fashioned for Dilane Bakwa and Chris Wood with sharp, smart football which Burnley struggled to cope with.

Yet they allowed Burnley back into the game, losing their way after the Clarets' leveller, and must be able to gain greater control of matches.

But there are promising signs even though the Austrlian head coach, who wants to implement his style quickly, has been in charge for less than two weeks.

A point was a fair result for both sides, but Postecoglou was brought in to win for Forest.

He has two chances to earn that victory next week as Forest go to Real Betis in the Europa League on Wednesday - the first time in 30 years they will have played in Europe - before a first home game at the City Ground against Sunderland next Saturday.

Ange Postecoglou spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Nottingham Forest's draw against Burnley: "It is always a tough game here. Really happy with certain parts, we controlled it well and their keeper pulled off some great saves. We lost a certain amount of control but disappointed we didn't take all three points. We had a couple of sloppy moments and it allowed them to get a bit of traction in the game. We still created enough chances to win the game.

"From seven days ago from when we played Arsenal, we look a different team and we saw elements of that on Wednesday night too.

"He [Martin Dubravka] was outstanding. Disappointed but at the same time, the progress in our play is the most posotive thing fro me.

On Igor Jesus: "He'll make more an impact as we go on. A lot of our new players come from a different league and it's not easy. Players like Igor, Bakwa, Ndoye. There's a lot of guys out there finding their feet out there.

On Europa League: "I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be great for this group of players. I have three years of experience in the Europa League. Last year went well but it'll be great for these players."

Forest defender Neco Williams spoke to Premier League Productions on what the mamager said to the team at half time: "We needed to keep going, it's 1-1, we're not losing so keep doing what we were doing. Lots of positives to take and we will learn on the negatives and put it right for our European game."

On playing Real Betis before Sunderland fixture: "It's going to be tough, a lot of games coming up. We play, we review, we recover and then we play. A tough period but also an exciting period."

Did you know?

Nottingham Forest averaged 63.3% possession against Burnley, their highest in a Premier League match since their return to the division in 2022.

Hear more from Postecoglou on BBC Sounds

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Burnley's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Come back on Sunday for a selection of your replies

Midfielder Florentino makes his full Burnley debut against Nottingham Forest.

The 26-year-old, who signed on loan from Benfica on deadline day, replaces the suspended Lesley Ugochukwu after his red card in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend.

Veteran striker Ashley Barnes returns to the bench for the Clarets.

Burnley XI: Dubravka, Walker, Hartman Esteve, Foster, Anthony, Florentino, Tchaouna, Ekdal, Cullen, Laurent.

Subs: Weiss, Worrall, Edwards, Humphreys, Flemming, Pires, Broja, Hannibal, Barnes

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz, Dilane Bakwa and Morato come in for Nottingham Forest from their defeat at Arsenal last weekend.

Juventus loanee Luiz is given his Premier League debut along with Arsenal loanee Zinchenko after they both started in the 3-2 EFL Cup defeat at Swansea on Wednesday.

Morato replaces Murillo who has failed to shake off a knock he suffered at the Emirates.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Morato, Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Bakwa, Ndoye, Wood

Subs: Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo, I. Jesus, Hutchinson, Yates, Jair Cunha, McAtee

There are seven games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Liverpool v Everton (12:30)

• Brighton v Tottenham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Burnley v Nottingham Forest

• West Ham v Crystal Palace

• Wolves v Leeds

• Manchester United v Chelsea (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Fulham v Brentford (20:00)

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Burnley manager Scott Parker will be feeling really hard done by after their last-gasp defeat by Liverpool which, like their loss against Manchester United, was down to a stoppage-time penalty.

We know the Clarets were excellent defensively in the Championship last season, and they have shown they are resolute in the Premier League too, but the question is whether they are going to carry a big enough attacking threat?

That's why I fancy Forest here. This is an important game for big Ange Postecoglou too. Whenever his team loses, whoever it is, it seems to be greeted with more glee than when most other managers lose, which is such an idiotic view.

His Nottingham Forest side were 2-0 up and cruising in the Carabao Cup midweek but then missed a few chances, let Swansea City back in the game and ended up going out to an unbelievable 97th-minute goal.

Postecoglou made 10 changes for that tie, so he has rested a few for this game. I'm backing them to bounce back with 'The Woodchopper', Chris Wood, bagging the winner on his return to his former club.

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport journalist

Burnley and Nottingham Forest are both licking their wounds going into Saturday's game at Turf Moor.

Burnley have been rocked by back-to-back stoppage-time defeats, the most recent of which against Liverpool last weekend ended their 15-month and 24-game unbeaten run at Turf Moor.

That makes it three defeats in their first four league games of the season, but head coach Scott Parker won't be pressing the panic button just yet.

Burnley kept 30 clean sheets in 46 Championship games last season, equalling an all-time league record that had stood for over 70 years; and there are early signs in this campaign that their deep-lying defence remains well equipped to repel invaders.

They were unlucky to concede a penalty at Manchester United and their diligent and organised defence came within a whisker of shutting out a Liverpool team that had scored in 37 consecutive league matches.

Burnley didn't have a single touch in Liverpool's penalty area in the second half but they put their bodies on the line, blocking 12 shots - the highest such tally in a Premier League game this season.

Parker's side have conceded seven goals – the joint fourth-highest total in the Premier League, which compares favourably with their xG against total of 9.4, the highest of any top-flight side this season.

The last team Liverpool did fail to score against in the league was Nottingham Forest, who are currently getting used to life under new head coach Ange Postecoglou.

Asked after Forest's defeat at Arsenal last weekend about how long it would take him to remould his new team, Postecoglou replied: "No, mate, it won't be months, it won't be weeks – it'll be Wednesday [in the EFL Cup against Swansea]. I can't afford to waste time."

Wednesday saw signs that the work has begun – 10 changes to the starting line-up, with eight of Forest's 13 summer signings making their debuts – but it also revealed that there is plenty to do, as Forest conceded two injury-time goals to lose 3-2.

Forest supporters must hope that the shock result can be partly attributed to a newly formed team not used to playing together. But giving up a lead is something Tottenham fans got used to last season, when Postecoglou's Spurs went ahead in 22 of their 38 Premier League games but ended up winning only 11 of them.

A quirk of the fixture list means Postecoglou's first four matches are all away – including a trip to Real Betis in the Europa League, which he won with Spurs last year. It is two down, two lost so far – the Forest players will need to get the hang of 'Angeball' pretty quickly to ensure the fans are onside when that first home game comes at the end of September.

Millie Sian
BBC Sport journalist

Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Burnley at Turf Moor (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Murillo is "still a doubt" to feature this weekend. The defender has "done some individual work" but is "still a bit sore" so a late decision will be made on his availability.

• He added: "This is the nature of the business we're in. You are always going to get some disruptions along the way, so thankfully it's not too serious. If he doesn't make tomorrow, he should definitely be right for Wednesday."

• There are no fresh injury concerns in the squad, with central midfielder Nicolas Dominguez "hopefully getting integrated into full training" next week after recovering from a knee issue.

• Igor Jesus is having his minutes managed after featuring in the Club World Cup over the summer, but the Brazilian is showing he is "such a hard worker" in training.

• Nottingham Forest "paid the ultimate price" in the final 10 to 15 minutes of their Carabao Cup match against Swansea City, but Postecoglou took comfort in seeing "plenty of evidence that the players are taking the information onboard".

• He elaborated on what he meant: "There was certainly an endeavour for us to be more aggressive with and without the ball. We created as many chances as you possibly could in a game like that, away from home. The defensive work apart from the last 15 minutes was excellent."

• The squad will be trying to "make amends" for their last two Premier League results, "get some points on the board" and "start moving in the right direction on the table" against Burnley.

• On Scott Parker's side only losing one game at Turf Moor in the past 15 months: "There aren't any easy tests in the Premier League now. Scott has done a brilliant job since taking over from Vincent [Kompany]. I love that he's tested himself overseas as well. He is a smart guy and has got them set up really well."

• On whether there is pressure on him to deliver results quickly: "There has been negativity around my arrival since I got to the Premier League - that's the constant space I'm in. It is important we win on Saturday, not to ease the pressure on me but because we have lost our last two games in the Premier League."

• It has been 10 days since Postecoglou took charge at Nottingham Forest and he has already made his own assessment of the club: "It has a very solid foundation. You can see why this club has grown steadily over the last few years - there are quality people here. It would've been a lot more challenging coming in at this point if there was some sort of disconnect between me and the existing staff."

• The players are "very united", despite there being a lot of new players in the dressing room, with all of the summer additions "adapting really well".

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to Postecoglou's news conference on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Radio Nottingham's Forest commentator Colin Fray speaking on the Shut Up And Show More Football podcast:

"Postecoglou will know as a new head coach coming in, the same as for any head coach, that the sooner he gets a win the better. The sooner he gets a win he gets fans onboard and very importantly, players on board with his ideas.

"For Postecoglou, specifically here at Forest, the difficulty for him is he's coming into a side that was really on the up. I know the last game under Nuno against West Ham was shocking. Take that one away, Forest have been a club growing and growing, going up, looking to take the next step. Suddenly, around the time he arrives - and I am not saying he is responsible in any way - they hit a buffer and conceded nine in three games, two games under Postecoglou and one under his predecessor.

"He has come in to a dressing room under a Nuno style. He has to get his ideas across, which are different to Nuno's. He has to get them across quickly. With it being so many away games, he doesn't get much time to work on stuff on the training pitch. He's starting now to need to convince more fans. If you are preaching something to employees in any position and it's not getting results, there will be scepticism.

"So what's his immediate aim? Win. Win a game.

"He made 10 changes against Swansea, with another couple at half time. So there were lots of things tried. What it means is he's now had a look at the vast majority of his squad. I think he's now more in a position for the Burnley game and Betis game going forward to make more sound judgments on what his starting XI for each game is going to be. He has not got far more idea about players.

"But, he needs to get his selections right, so that he wins a game, quickly."

Listen to Shut Up And Show More Football

The latest Shut Up And Show More Football has dropped, with all the reaction to a "damaging defeat" at Swansea City.

David Jackson and Colin Fray are joined by former Nottingham Forest player James Perch to mull over what went wrong in the Carabao Cup third round and discuss Ange Postecoglou's start.

Plus former Reds midfielder Gareth Edds - who played under Ange Postecoglou for the Australia Under-20s - shares his insight on the new boss.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds