Nottingham Forest captain Morgan Gibbs-White issued an apology following the Reds’ disappointing 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday evening.

Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol scored in either half to break Forest hearts on an afternoon when Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were slow out of the blocks, but responded accordingly in the second half – but they failed to force the ball over the line.

“It’s devastating,” Gibbs-White told ITV. “I feel sorry for the fans. I hold my hands up and apologise – I should’ve scored at least one of them. I think as a team we didn’t start well, what we were hoping to do. In the second half we came out fighting and we gave it everything, and the support never stopped until the last second.

“We thank them a lot for that, they’ve been consistent throughout the season. I’m just lost for words. We gave everything. It’s sad to go out like that, but we keep going and we still have the Premier League to focus on.

“When the first one hit the cross-bar, I had a feeling it wasn’t our day. The second one, I round the keeper, it’s a tight angle but I think I should score and that then would’ve given us energy, everyone in the stadium energy to go again. The boys kept fighting, we showed resilience, we can take that away.

“If we get one, I feel like we’d have got another one. It was just the flow of the game in that moment. We had a few good chances we could’ve scored from but all I can put it down to is that it just wasn’t our day. We had a gameplan everyone believed in. I thought we executed it well in the first half, apart from their goal.

“Anthony is a massive threat for us, and he showed that in the second half. We have to put it behind us now. We enjoyed it while it lasted, but now we have to focus on getting into the Champions League. We have five big finals – we’ll give it everything and hope for the best.”

We have produced a special 48-page edition of the Nottingham Post celebrating the club’s two European Cup wins.

Nottingham Forest are flying high in the Premier League and Reds fans are dreaming of a return to European competition. It has been an outstanding campaign for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men, who are on course for a place in the Champions League next season. And Forest supporters can whet their appetite for a possible return to football’s top tier on the continent with our 48-page special edition celebrating the club’s two European Cup wins.

Buy now and have it delivered directly to your door. Alternatively you can purchase in most supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents in Nottinghamshire from April, 2 2025.