Nottingham Forest backed to brush off 'massive disappointment' and seal promotion

Nottingham Forest have been backed to brush off the "massive disappointment" of missing out on automatic promotion by clinching a place in the Premier League through the play-offs.

Steve Cooper's side saw their hopes of a top-two finish ended in dramatic style as they were beaten 1-0 by rivals Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday night. The result clinched promotion for the Cherries, while leaving Forest to settle for a third or fourth place finish in the table.

The Reds round off their regular league campaign away to Hull City this weekend, though are already assured of a play-off place, so can start preparing for that. Huddersfield Town have also sealed a top-six spot, with Sheffield United, Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Millwall battling it out for the final two positions.

While Tuesday's events on the south coast will have left a bitter taste for Forest players, they must now dust themselves down for another chance at securing a long-awaited return to the top flight. Former Reds defender Michael Dawson believes they can do it.

"It's a massive disappointment (losing to Bournemouth)," Dawson told Sky Sports. "Steve made it clear that they were going for the top two and they had it in their sights.

"I go back to September, when he walked through that door, they had no right to be looking for promotion. Play-offs? No chance. So they've got to take an awful lot of credit.

"They'll be disappointed. They've got to prepare for Hull at the weekend, and then focus on the play-offs.

"The city is excited, the city is together, and the fans are together. We saw that at the weekend against Swansea, and nobody will be wanting to go there in the second leg.

"They're still my favourites (to win the play-offs). They've got