NOTTINGHAM Forest's James Perch is loving the responsibility of the captain's armband after leading the Reds to a fourth successive Championship win under his leadership.

The 23-year-old Mansfield-born player said last night's game against Sheffield Wednesday was a difficult one, but he was delighted with the attitude the Reds showed to come from behind and win 2-1.

They were helped by the Owls going down to ten men after 39 minutes with the score at 1-1 – Francis Jeffers was sent off for a lunge on Joe Heath. Perch said that only made the visitors more determined to frustrate Forest.

After seeing Forest move to 17th, four points clear of the drop zone, Perch said: "With ten men, they were always going to sit behind and maybe put a ten-minute spell in where they would keep lumping it in the box. But for ten or 15 minutes maybe we were anxious, trying to get that second goal straight away. We had to be patient and it paid off but fair to play to them, they dug in with ten men.

"I am enjoying it as captain. This is a time when it tests you.

"When the chips are down when you are playing against a team with ten men, you have to look after your squad and work together. It is tense but that is the whole point of being captain.

"These kind of games, maybe last year we would have drawn or lost it, but it just shows the character of the team, how we have come and to be fair, we are young, but very brave and courageous."

Jeffers' sending off changed the game. "The referee got it right. He was lunging in and the referee said to me he was off the floor and in the air," said Perch. "He knew when he did it he was going to get sent off, he did not argue it.

"He knew he had done a bad tackle but it is not like him, I have to say that."

The winner came from the head of defender Luke Chambers, his first of the season.

Perch joked: "It is about time he scored, I cannot remember the last time he scored. He did well last year but this season it is his first. It was a great header."