Nottingham Forest 0 Hull City 1: ‘Workmanlike’ Hull’s labours are rewarded thanks to Mclean’s goal

Mclean latched on to a headed through ball from former Forest captain Paul McKenna and held off a challenge to finish with a low right-foot shot past Lee Camp in the 74th minute.

Pearson revealed: “I always thought it would be a game that would be settled by one goal and I’m just very pleased that we got it.

“We were a little bit disappointed that we didn’t control the ball a lot better than we did in the first half.

“It had to be a workmanlike performance because we didn’t play well enough on the day.

“We have been playing some good football recently but it was a day when we dug in and showed that we have a lot of character.

“You’ve got to remember that we were up against a side that have had back-to-back wins and are playing with a lot higher tempo, but I think we coped with them quite well.

“Our goalkeeper Adriano Basso has had to make one fantastic save but outside of that he didn’t have to make too many saves.

“Having said that, I think Forest will be a little bit disappointed that they did not put us under more pressure in certain situations.”

That was an opinion shared by Forest chief Cotterill, who confessed: “We were perhaps not at as bright as we were in the other two games, certainly the home game against Middlesbrough.

“We’ve had one lapse in concentration and it’s cost us.

“Their assistant manager Craig Shakespeare said to me after the game ‘sorry about that – it was smash and grab’.”

In a game of few goalscoring chances, Forest went close in the 63rd minute when Polish midfielder Radoslaw Majewski forced a spectacular full-length save from Basso.

But 11 minutes later, Mclean gave Camp no chance with an assured finish.

When Pearson was questioned after the game about being on Leicester’s shortlist to replace Sven Goran Eriksson, the Hull manager answered: “We are working very hard to move our own club forward at the moment so I don’t have to comment on that.”

Nottingham Forest: Camp, Gunter, Chambers, Morgan, Cunningham (Derbyshire 85), Majewski, McGugan, Greening (Reid 82), Lynch, Miller (Findley 73), Tudgay. Unused substitutes: Smith, Moloney.

Hull City: Basso, Rosenior, Chester, Hobbs, Dudgeon, Brady (Adebola 61), Evans, Koren, Cairney (McKenna 46), Mclean (Harper 87), Fryatt. Unused substitutes: Gulacsi, McShane.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).

Man of the match: James Chester.