Nottingham Forest first-team coach Brian Eastick has admitted that his side lost their Championship clash against Fulham in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Cottagers striker Ross McCormack took advantage of some poor defending to fire a brace inside the first 20 minutes of the match, and he completed his hat-trick 10 minutes before half time.
Henri Lansbury got a goal back just before the break and added another in the second half, but it couldn't stop Forest slipping to defeat at Craven Cottage just days after an important win over rivals Derby County.
Eastick told reporters: "Frustration is the word, having played so well at Derby we came here pretty confident.
"But we shot ourselves in the foot big time. We lost the game in the first 20 minutes. If you give the quality of McCormack that much space and time he will punish you.
"For 70 minutes we played exceptionally well, but the bottom line is you can't give teams a 3-0 head start and expect to win matches."
Forest are 12th in the Championship following their loss to Kit Symons's side.
Simon Sinclair
