Saturday 15 August 2015 21:08, UK
Dougie Freedman praised his Nottingham Forest side for keeping faith with attacking football as they came from behind to beat Rotherham 2-1 at the City Ground.
Rotherham looked to be in the mood to ensure they did not chalk up a 16th game without a win over Forest after Danny Collins headed home against his former club to give them a 13th-minute lead.
But Forest remained patient and were rewarded as Matt Mills headed home an equaliser in first-half injury time, before Michail Antonio's third goal in two games secured three points for the home side in the 61st minute.
"After a good start we had a setback, but we stuck with the style of play that we want to adapt - and we kept on probing after we had gone behind," said Freedman, who had seen his side start the Sky Bet Championship campaign with a defeat at Brighton.
"The outcome was the right result, credit to Rotherham, because they started well. But I was pleased that we kept faith in our style, we played the way that we wanted.
"The crowd stuck with us, they understood what we were trying to do. And we stayed patient on the pitch. I am pleased that we had a good, professional performance.
"I did not play that well here when I was a player (for Forest) but I do understand the crowd and I know they appreciate good football. I told the players to stick with the style of play that the fans deserve, even if we did have a setback - and they did exactly that.
"We want to play with two wingers, we want to play attacking football and we want to maintain our approach - I think the fans saw that we did that and we were rewarded for it."
Millers boss Steve Evans felt his side deserved a share of the spoils following a performance that has him believing his side are capable of a comfortable season in the Championship, without another relegation battle.
"We played with a lot of energy all over the pitch. There were some outstanding performances and we were only let down by the officials," said Evans, who was upset that his side had not been given a penalty for handball in the second half.
"They had two chances to score and they scored two goals. Perhaps we could have defended the second one a little bit better.
"But if we play like that in the Championship for the rest of the season we will come away with a lot of points, that is for sure.
"We have come to play a fantastic football club, in Forest, with good, good players and we are really pleased with our performance. We will get better as well, as the season goes on.
"As I said, if we perform like that for the rest of the season in the Championship, we will get a lot of points. More than we got last season, that is for sure."
