The City youngsters went 3-1 down in the second half following goals from Jimmy Sinclair, Danny Anijsko and Connor Brown which had counteracted Matty Warhurst’s second-half goal.
Substitute Harrison Parker was then shown a straight red card for dissent before Archie Whitehall further extended Forest’s lead.
Alfie Harrison managed to claim two goals in added time, but the East Midlands side held firm to secure the points and condemn City to a first defeat of the season.
Despite the sense of frustration however, head coach Wilkinson said he was confident his players would heed the lessons going forward.
“Obviously, we are very disappointed with the result but more so aspects of the performance which don’t reflect us and how we normally play, particularly our defending,” Wilkinson reflected.
“We were far too open in allowing Forest to counter-attack and they had far too many of them.
“So, we are disappointed in that side of our game, I thought with the ball we were OK, maybe we didn’t create quite enough early enough by our standards. But yeah, overall, a disappointing day.”
However, the boss did highlight the determination shown by his players who worked hard throughout the 90 minutes.
One player who gave City a glimmer of hope of securing a point was Harrison whose added time brace highlighted the Club’s resilience.
“From an effort point of view, I’ve got no issues, but it was more again just failing to appreciate the smaller details of our defending and reaction to transition that was the big problem,” Wilkinson added.
“I think the lads were really willing in trying to stay in the game until the end and that was reflected in the scoreline, but we left ourselves with far too much to do.
“Credit to Alfie [Harrison], he certainly never gives up and it’s a big strength of his game.
“Both goals, especially the first one, were really built on the endeavour and desire to still press and jump out.
“So that was pleasing and obviously ends the game in a slightly more positive note.”
