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Aitor Karanka says Nottingham Forest got a "wake-up call" at Bristol City – and must now realise the Championship season has started properly.

It needed a Daryl Murphy header in the first minute of the second half to cancel out a fifth minute strike from Andreas Weimann and earn the Reds a solid point on the opening day at Ashton Gate.

Weimann was left unmarked to put the home side ahead early on, following the kind of lapse in concentration that had not been evident from Forest in pre-season.

Reds boss Karanka says it was a moment that must be a lesson learned as they look to continue build on this point – at a venue where they had lost on their previous four visits – when they face West Brom at the City Ground on Tuesday.

(Image: Dan Westwell)

“I did not understand why we conceded that goal, during the game. Because we have not had any problem in pre-season,” said Karanka.

(Image: PA)

“I think and I hope that we have learned from that mistake. It was the first mistake of our season and I hope it is the last one.

“I am happy, particularly with the second half. I think in the second half we were the team that I want us to be.

“I think, in pre-season, that everything has been almost perfect and I do not think we realised that the Championship started today.

“It has been a good wake-up call for us, because now we realise that the league has started.”

Forest looked far stronger in the second half, when they might have snatched all three points, with Joe Lolley and Adlene Guedioura both coming close to finding the net, while Murphy was also denied a second goal by an alert save.

“One mistake was difficult for us to fix, but we have to go to the pitch in the way that we did in the second half,” said Karanka. “Our attitude was completely different, we looked a different team – we looked like the team we were in pre-season.

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“When you go to the pitch without the right intensity or attitude, against an opponent playing at home, who had a very good season last season – if they want it more than you, the quality is secondary.

“We need to go to the pitch with the same quality and intensity as our opponent, we will win games because we have a lot of good players and we are a quality side.”