Sean Dyche doesn't mess about! Nottingham Forest boss takes brutal swipe at his own players after FA Cup upset at the hands of Wrexham

Forest found themselves staring down the barrel of defeat in the first half of the game at the Racecourse Group on Friday night when Liberato Cacace and Oliver Rathbone put the Red Dragons 2-0 up after just 40 minutes. After Dyche rang the changes, the Premier League side would respond in the second period and clawed their way back into the contest.

Igor Jesus scored to half the deficit with 25 minutes to play, but the hosts hit back and extended their lead once again through Dominic Hyam on 74 minutes. The Red Dragons, holding a 3-1 advantage at this point, appeared to be cruising to an unexpected victory over their top-flight opposition.

Yet, just two minutes later, Callum Hudson-Odoi pulled one back and then appeared to shatter the Wrexham faithful’s hopes with an 89th-minute equaliser. No goals were added in the extra period to the six scored in regulation time, meaning the tie was sent to a penalty shootout.

The penalties allowed Arthur Okonkwo to step up and be the hero for the Red Dragons. The former Arsenal goalkeeper made two top saves to ensure Forest would be the first Premier League team dumped from the competition. He denied both Jesus and Forest’s record signing Omari Hutchinson from finding the back of the net to put his name up in lights.

Speaking to TNT Sportsafter the game, Dyche was unhappy and labelled the first-half performance as unacceptable. “I let the players know, and certainly some individuals will know, and they've got to look in the mirror at that side of things,” he said. “But, the strangeness of football, I thought the players that came on in the second half were a credit, and we went on and looked like a Premier League side.”

He said that he “could have taken all of them off” at half-time, pointing to the tempo, mentality and lack of intent shown by his Forest players as what let them down in the opening period of the third-round tie.

“You can't give a two goal head start in football. Credit to them [Wrexham] by the way. I'm not taking anything away from them, fair play. They win it in the end and they go through, but an absolutely unacceptable first half from our point of view,” Dyche added.

The Forest boss went further to focus on the poor displays shown by a rotated side in the FA Cup. Dyche also hinted that a number of starters had been asking him for an opportunity to showcase what they can offer, but they had failed to deliver on their self-belief.

“It's one of those isn't it? They all knock on your door and say: 'Why aren't I playing?' Well, the evidence is quite honestly there. For some, not for all. That's what football is,” he said. “You've got to train right all the time and you've got to prepare right because when your day comes you've got to be ready. Too many were not ready in the first half.”

Forest began the week so positively, taking three points against relegation rivals West Ham to confine Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to the drop zone. Forest are 17th in the Premier League, seven points above the Hammers, but have been suffering with very mixed results.

Defeat in the cup might be disappointing, but it could prove handy for Dyche, who is already competing in the Europa League, with the number of potential matches on their schedule dropping.