JAMES Perch insisted Nottingham Forest put themselves on a back foot from the moment they conceded the first goal at Burnley, in the form of a soft free-kick from Robbie Blake.

The Reds skipper admitted his side had conceded some rubbish goals during their 5-0 defeat.

"It was a terrible day, we all know that and all we can do is apologise to the travelling fans, because they were superb," said Perch

"We did not show enough fight or scrap, I don't think we did. We let ourselves down, we let everyone down. We were rubbish.

"There is no hiding places in football, certainly not at Turf Moor, where we have been spanked.

He felt the most significant goal was the first, which was looped high over Paul Smith and into the far corner of the net from an angle wide on the left side of the box.

"It was one of those goals that puts you right on the back foot, when you are in the position we are in," said Perch.

"The goal was rubbish, we know it was rubbish and, while we tried to get back into it, when you concede a goal like that it just kills you."

Perch also admitted it was disappointing to suffer such a heavy defeat on his return to the side – particularly after being given a rare opportunity to play in his preferred position in the centre of defence.

"To come back to a 5-0 defeat, there is nothing worse. It looks bad for me and Wes (Morgan), as central defenders, when it is 5-0," he said. "The goals we conceded were awful. The work-rate was unacceptable – we have to make sure that never happens again, this level of performance, We were rubbish.

"And the goals we conceded were rubbish. I don't think it helped conceding the first one.

"But the second goal was rubbish, the third goal was rubbish, the fourth was a decent finish, but the fifth goal was rubbish.

"We have to look at ourselves and at our defending and realise that we were poor."