Leicester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson felt Nottingham Forest were flattered by the scoreline as the Foxes claimed a 1-0 win over their East Midlands rivals at the Walkers Stadium. "We deserved to win with our scoring chances and possession," he said. "We were the better team. We kept the ball very well in the first half but did not manage to get behind them. But we were much more dangerous in the second half and should have scored more."

And Eriksson was quick to hail the forward pairing of Darius Vassell and Andy King, adding: "Andy King is getting better and better. He is young and he can defend and attack and the timing of his runs in to the box is fantastic.

"He scores most of his goals like that. He is a big talent and is going to get better. Darius started the game slowly but was very strong in the second half in which he was excellent.

"With his pace and experience he can be very dangerous. It would be nice for him to score a goal."

Forest boss Billy Davies admitted that they did not deserve to come away with anything.

"I'm disappointed with our play," he said. " We did not compete enough or pass well enough or dominate the game in midfield. I'm very disappointed. We deserved nothing."

Davies felt his side should have been thrown a lifeline when substitute Robert Earnshaw went down inside under the challenge of City full-back Greg Cunningham but referee Michael Oliver was unmoved.

"The referee got it horribly wrong. It could have been a big turning point," he said. "Although we didn't deserve anything we could have sneaked it if the penalty had been given."