Europa League LIVE: Ange’s search for first win at Nottingham Forest continues

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Oh dear.

Really poor defending from a set piece has just cost Nottingham Forest dearly.

A free kick from the right, from a fairly nothing position… their captain, Mads Bech, gets a slight head on it, and at the back post, Ousmane Diao taps it into an empty net. Forest’s defenders had to deal with that better.

Huge pressure now on Ange Postecoglou. Huuuuge.

Nottingham Forest 0-1 FC Midtjylland, 18 minutes

Elliot Anderson has just wound up and had a crack from a fairly long way out, with his shot going well over the target - but after some lovely dribbling to get through traffic in the middle of the pitch, space opened up for him, so he earned the right to have a go from there.

Fairly end-to-end stuff so far but it feels like Forest are slowly asserting control here, and seeing more and more of the ball - and in their half, too, as Hudson-Odoi also has a ping from outside the box. Having cut inside from the left, that one curls in, but not far enough. Goal kick.

Nottingham Forest 0-0 FC Midtjylland, 15 minutes

This game is pretty physical so far - and combine that with a seemingly trigger-happy referee and the opening exchanges have been pretty stop-start.

Now, here, there’s a bit of a push-and-shove between the two sides after Forest’s Elliot Anderson went down amid a heavy challenge from Denil Castillo. He gets a stern talking to, but nothing more from the ref… so Forest have a good opportunity from this free kick, on the left-hand flank.

It’s taken short, a cross is sent in, and it’s put out for a Forest corner, to be taken by Callum Hudson-Odoi… which is headed clear, but the hosts recycle possession and will build again.

Nottingham Forest 0-0 FC Midtjylland, 8 minutes

The visitors have kicked off. The game is under way. A huge one for Ange Postecoglou.

And wow - inside the first minute of the game, Morato, Forest’s Brazilian defender, has been yellow carded for a late challenge on Midtjylland’s Junior Brumado.

That gives them an early sight on goal from a free kick, which goes out for a corner kick after taking a deflection off the wall... and the danger there is seen out without complication by Forest.

Nottingham Forest 0-0 FC Midtjylland, 3 minutes

Though the results haven’t been there so far, there is supreme confidence within Nottingham Forest’s playing group that they are headed in the right direction under Ange Postecoglou.

England international Morgan Gibbs-White spoke in the official pre-match press conference and gave a glowing review of their new manager:

This is what comes with trying to get to the top. You’re always going to have blips, but when we get that first win we’ll be unstoppable.

The manager has taken well to the group we’ve taken well to him. We believe in him and his ideas. He’s well respected within the group and I think you can see how we’re playing out there.

The way that we’re playing and the way that we’re understanding each other, because of the manager’s ideas, has shown so much in recent games. It’s just we’re missing that final cutting edge. If we had won all these games — which I personally think we should have — then everyone would be raving about Ange. Everyone would be absolutely excited. That would be the type of discussion.

But we’re just waiting for that win. And I think as soon as that comes, we’ll start to kick on.

Morgan Gibbs-White.Credit: Getty Images

As Postecoglou himself noted, of course a player is only going to speak publicly in positive terms about their boss - but from his perspective, Forest have been “dominating every aspect” except on the scoreboard:

I think [a win] would be helpful, but for me it’s about the players. They’ve embraced what we are trying to do. Since I’ve come in we are doing things differently, and the players have bought into it.

But I want them to get the rewards for it a well. They are working awfully hard, in every physical metric we have they are producing their best performances.

We are creating more chances than the opposition, dominating in every aspect, but we aren’t winning. We want the players to feel the reward of that, because it accelerates growth and belief. It’s not about going away from what we’ve been doing, that’s for sure.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of this morning’s Europa League clash between Nottingham Forest and FC Midtjylland - the first home European fixture for Forest in almost 30 years.

This is Ange Postecoglou’s sixth game in charge, and they’re hot favourites to win this match against their opponents, who sit second in the Danish Superliga. Will this, finally, be Forest’s first victory under him? Or will the wait continue even longer - and the pressure on him ratchet up even further?

I’m Vince Rugari and I’ll be here to guide you through every moment. Kick-off is at 5am AEST, and you can watch along with me on Stan Sport. Or you can just follow with our updates on here.

Or, ideally, you can do both!