Forest battled hard and certainly looked more organised defensively than they did in the 3-2 defeat at home to Midtjylland on Thursday night but this performance will do little to persuade sceptical Forest fans that owner Evangelos Marinakis was right to sack Nuno Espírito Santo and replace him with Postecoglou.

The Australian has failed to win any of his seven games in charge with Forest now sitting just a point above the bottom three.

A first half to forget

The first half was cagey with little in the way of invention or clear-cut chances.

Each side had one decent opportunity: Joelinton seeing a far-post header palmed away by Matz Sels while Chris Wood ought to have done better than let the ball cannon off his knee after he had been found in space by Morgan Gibbs-White’s low cross.

Newcastle started to boss proceedings after the break.

They should’ve gone in front after 51 minutes. Morato made a mess of clearing Antony Gordon’s cross, laying it on a plate for Woltemade six yards out only for the defender to get up and block the German’s shot.

Forest unhappy with Guimaraes goal

The goal came six minutes later. A Forest break was stopped in robust fashion by Guimaraes who went in strongly on Gibbs-White. Forest wanted a free-kick but referee Peter Bankes waved play on. Dan Burn laid the ball off to Guimaraes on the edge of the area and he curled a shot past Sels and into the net.

Postecoglou made a triple change in a bid to find a route back into the contest, bringing on Callum Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus and Omari Hutchinson. It made little difference, however, and Woltemade missed another opportunity to score shortly afterwards, somehow firing against the bar from close range.

Sels made superb stops to deny Malick Thiaw and substitute Harvey Barnes before some awful play from Elliot Anderson gifted Newcastle the chance to double their lead.

The former Newcastle midfielder dawdled on the ball inside his own area and then lunged into Guimaraes to concede a needless penalty. Woltemade made no mistake from the spot, firing high into the top left-hand corner.

Forest never really threatened a comeback, leaving Postecoglou fighting for his future as the Premier League heads into an international break.

When the domestic action returns, Forest host Chelsea on October 18 before games against Porto, Bournemouth and Manchester United.