Fulham boss Marco Silva says his triple first-half change in defeat at Nottingham Forest should not reflect on the players involved.
Harry Wilson, Sasa Lukic and Alex Iwobi were all hooked as Forest dominated.
Silva said: “It's important to say, when I made the triple change, it wasn't the fault of Harry Wilson, Sasa Lukic and Alex Iwobi at all.
“In that moment, the team needed much more changes than just three. As a collective, we were not there. It was a tactical change. We needed Tom Cairney and Willian to at least have the ball."
He also said: “When we don't start the game the way we should, of course we are going to be punished. First half, we didn't play. Everything was so, so slow.
“We didn't do what we planned. We were not solid enough, we were not aggressive enough. We were losing almost all of the balls.
“Second half, we reacted, but the damage was already there from the first half. We completely dominated the second half, but it was already too late. Football is played from the first minute, not just the second half."
