A painful but necessary defeat

You didn't honestly believe Forest were going to get to Wembley, did you? Okay, so we hadn't lost at the City Ground since September, and hadn't conceded a goal there in eight matches, but when it comes to play-off semi-finals Forest just never deliver, so although the second half collapse against Blackpool felt shocking, it's not really a surprise.

I genuinely did want us to go through to Wembley, yes, but I'm secretly feeling relieved more than anything to be absolutely truthful. It was a very painful way to lose, but it would have been a lot harder to come to terms with if it happened at Wembley. We've now got experience of three play-off semi-final failures in the space of seven years, so we as a fan base have become used to dealing with it. But if you think I felt heartbroken last night, you would be quite wrong. 'Majorly disappointed' would best sum up my feelings. Usually I can't abide the players saying they are disappointed with a result when they should be saying they are gutted or devastated. But last night's defeat was nowhere near as soul-destroying as the Yeovil semi-final three years ago. Back then I finished the match unable to look up as the players trudged off the pitch in tears. I couldn't move out of my seat as I sat there crying my eyes out as my dad and brothers stood around trying in vain to console me. This time around, although I did come close to shedding tears when Forest found themselves chasing three goals, I made sure I stood with my scarf aloft my head as the players did a walk around at the end. Obviously they did not deserve to be applauded for their performance on the night, but the season overall has defied all our expectations, so for that the squad did deserve recognition. It made me feel so much better when right at the end of the game the Forest fans who had not already left the ground gave the dejected players a big round of applause. I was very concerned that people would be feeling very sorry for themselves and that the players would leave the field in disgrace. That would have been a very sad conclusion to a brilliant season, so I am so glad the fans had the good grace to do that, because it not only made ourselves feel better, but the players, too. Some of them had sunk to the ground with their heads bowed after the game, which made for a depressing sight, but I think they will realise it's probably best that we're still in the Championship because it will mean the squad will be largely the same next season with one or two additions.

Whoever we do sign, the absolute top priority is a left back. It's ridiculous that we've gone throughout the whole season not having a recognised one with the exception of Nicky Shorey who was with us on loan for a while. Had we persuaded Shorey to stay on, I think we might well have gone on to make automatic promotion. Instead, left back has been filled by a number of players since Shorey's departure, none of whom are comfortable playing there. Chris Cohen, Chris Gunter, Luke Chambers, and most recently James Perch have all been deployed in the position at some stage. It was the lack of a good quality left back that I think was our downfall last night as the defence completely fell apart in the second half as a four-goal blast from Blackpool, three of which came from DJ Campbell, put paid to Forest's Wembley hopes once and for all.

It had all started so promisingly when Robbie Earnshaw, who earned a recall to the side, gave Forest an early lead in the seventh minute. The roof virtually came off the City Ground. At half time, following a good first 45-minute display, the Forest fans had plenty of reasons to be hopeful of victory. But terrible defensive errors after the break saw Blackpool inflict a humiliating defeat on Forest. They went back in front on aggregate ten minutes into the second half when Campbell slotted past Lee Camp, who perhaps shouldn't have come out of his goal to claim the ball. But within ten minutes Forest were on level terms again when Earnshaw scored from six yards out for his second goal of the night. Cue very loud chants of 'Robbie Earnshaw is a red' from three quarters of the stadium. That must have left a lump in his throat, but his brace turned out to mean nothing in the end as Blackpool were out to spoil the party, although they were given a considerable helping hand by the Forest team, who defended woefully. Substitute Stephen Dobbie's deflected long-range shot made it 3-2 on aggregate to Blackpool with 18 minutes to go, and within four minutes a horrible mistake by Perch in a dangerous area allowed Campbell to score a second, and leave Forest needing two goals to draw level. With ten minutes plus injury time remaining, that might have been achievable, but in the 80th minute Campbell completed his hat-trick and left Forest's Wembley dream in tatters. A goal in injury time made the scoreline on the night a little bit more respectable when substitute Dele Adebola scored from close range, but Forest had to concede that over the two legs they had been second best and Blackpool deserved to go through. They may have finished sixth, three places lower than Forest, but having beaten us four times this season, we cannot claim to be a better side then them. Last night's performance showed that we have got a lot of work to do before we can genuinely say we're worthy of Premiership football. Good luck to Blackpool, though. If they go up, they're going to need it. As for Forest, we're probably better off out of it.