Aitor Karanka has said that he is embarrassed that his Nottingham Forest side were unable to progress to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals against League 1 side Burton Albion.
The Championship outfit were the clear favourites to make it through to the last eight of the Carabao Cup, especially considering Burton’s heavy fixture list in recent weeks.
However, Forest were dumped out of the competition in the fourth round, succumbing to a 3-2 defeat at the Pirelli Stadium, leaving manager Karanka to admit that he his side’s performance has left him feeling embarrassed.
“We had a chance to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in 25 years and it is a real missed opportunity,” said Karanka. “If we were complacent then that should never have been the case because we were playing to reach the quarter-finals.
“I’m really angry because a team from League One, a team which has played four games in 10 days, has looked much better than us. They were much stronger and they wanted everything more than we did.
“I can’t understand why that was the case and I don’t want to say something that I’ll regret tomorrow. I just feel embarrassed and sorry for the supporters who travelled this evening because we all came here thinking we could achieve something good.”
Elsewhere, Bournemouth edged past Norwich City 2-1.