After being forced to settle for a draw in their showdown with arch-rivals Derby County last Friday, Nottingham Forest would have been determined to secure all three points at the City Ground yesterday evening.

However, despite dominating vast swathes of possession in their clash with Luton Town, the Reds were made to pay for a lack of conviction in-front of goal as the visitors sealed a 1-0 victory.

Forest started the game brightly as Joe Lolley was denied by Hatters goalkeeper Simon Sluga before Glenn Murray went close to opening the scoring as he fired over from Anthony Knockaert's cross.

Following the break, Luton began to offer a threat on the counter-attack and eventually took the lead in the 64th minute as Ryan Tunnicliffe slotted past Reds goalkeeper Brice Samba.

Despite responding to this setback by introducing Lyle Taylor, Alex Mighten and Sammy Ameobi, Forest were unable to break down a resilient Hatters side who held on to secure their sixth away victory of the season.

Reflecting on his side's defeat, Reds manager Chris Hughton admitted that a failure to convert their chances was the key reason for this particular setback.

Speaking to the Nottingham Post after the game, the former Newcastle United boss said: "To come in at 0-0, I think Luton would have been lifted by that and would have felt that they can only be better in the second half.

"I was disappointed after they scored, we didn't really create anywhere near the chances that we created in the first half period.

"But it's a story again, that if you don't put them opportunities away, then you're playing against good teams who are going to fight for 90 minutes.

"You then end up having to look at the goal that you concede, take the bones out of it and it was a poor goal that we conceded.

"I'd rather be here talking about the chances we took."

GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...

Forest's lack of guile in-front of goal has been a real issue this season and is something that Hughton may have to address in the summer if his players continue to struggle.

Whereas Lewis Grabban and Lyle Taylor both reached double figures in terms of goals last season, they have only managed to score a combined total of eight during the current campaign.

With Glenn Murray's deal at the City Ground set to expire in June, the Reds may need to bolster their attacking options if the veteran forwards decides to move on to pastures new.

Having seen Murray miss two major opportunities last night, it would not be at all surprising if Hughton turns to Taylor for inspiration on Saturday when Forest head to Vicarage Road to face high-flying Watford.