Don't try treating Stuart McCall to a trip to the Robin Hood Experience. The Bantams boss has suffered more than enough in Nottingham over the past few days.

Once again there was no case of robbing the rich to feed the poor as Championship hosts Forest followed mega-bucks County's lead by piling on the first-week misery for City.

McCall's men made more of a game of it at the City Ground and were still on level terms at half-time.

But once the deadlock was broken, there was no way back as Forest ran out comfortable winners. And rookie defender Jonathan Bateson soured the evening with a straight red card for a wild lunge on Nathan Tyson.

You had to go right back to 1934 for City's last win at the City Ground and few gave them a chance of ending that hoodoo after Saturday's thrashing.

McCall tightened things up following the Meadow Lane mauling, with four changes and a different system.

Luke O'Brien and Bateson lined up as wing backs with Simon Ramsden making the third centre half. James Hanson came in at left midfield with instructions to link up with lone striker Gareth Evans.

Peter Thorne and Michael Boulding were the insurance policy on the bench but it gave them both a breather ahead of Port Vale's visit at the weekend.

Forest had their own problems with injuries, suspension and international calls. Their makeshift back four contained two midfielders and a left back playing centre half and immediately came under pressure from the hard-running Evans.

The striker set up Lee Bullock for a header wide and then hurried goalkeeper Paul Smith into a panicky clearance.

Forest, as expected, enjoyed the lion's share of the early possession and forced a flurry of corners. Lewis McGugan warmed Simon Eastwood's hands with a fierce 30-yard free-kick, while Polish international Radoslaw Majewski saw another long-range blast deflected away from goal.

Steve Williams picked up his first booking as a professional after tugging back Tyson but the City back line had a sturdier look than previously and was containing the Forest threat.

There was a worrying moment when Garath McCleary jinked his way into the box but Ramsden blocked his progress and completed the clearance with a sliding tackle on McGugan.

Then Paul Anderson flicked Forest's fifth corner of the first half across the goalmouth, where it just eluded the outstretched boot of Tyson.

Bullock followed Williams into referee Oliver Langford's book for an ice hockey-style body check on McGugan as City continued to make life tough for the Championship side.

The brick wall of black shirts stood firm as half-time approached and Dexter Blackstock's looping header from Arron Davies' cross failed to trouble Eastwood.

The only crowd noise was coming from the City end, demonstrating how well they had done the job of frustrating their hosts over the first 45 minutes.

The cynics, of course, would recall that it was also 0-0 at Huddersfield this time last year and then everything fell apart - but it still represented a huge improvement on the first half at Notts County.

Unfortunately the good work was promptly undone within two minutes of the restart. McCleary pushed the ball through for Tyson to chase and he clipped it back from the byline for Anderson to convert with a diving header.

It was the worst possible start to the half and, given the pack-of-cards response to falling behind at Notts County, City's resolve was sure to be tested.

Forest won another corner and Eastwood got the slightest of touches from McGugan's kick to take it away from the lurking Blackstock at the back post.

For a while, every player bar Smith was camped in the City half.

Zesh Rehman bundled over McGugan 25 yards out and when his free-kick cannoned off the wall, Majewski met the rebound with an over-ambitious volley that hurtled into the top section of the stand.

But Forest's increased pressure told again on the hour with a second goal. Tyson was the provider once more, this time from the left side, and Blackstock bundled the cross in from four yards with his knee.

There looked no way back for City, who had offered little attacking threat since the early exchanges. When Hanson had tried to burst clear, he was pulled up for offside.

McCall made his first substitution at the midway point of the half, giving Jamie O'Brien his first senior outing in place of Bullock.

The former Birmingham midfielder prompted a bit of momentum straight away, finding Evans, who was blocked off in the Forest penalty area.

Forest went back on the attack where substitute Joe Garner sliced his shot so badly it turned into a great square pass for the unmarked Anderson. The winger, though, lacked any composure with a wild first-time thrash.

Tyson's aim was far better with a stinging effort that Eastwood did well to palm behind as the Forest corner count reached double figures.

Boulding came on for Evans, who had run himself into the ground with nothing to show for it.

At least City mustered a decent shot through O'Brien, though he could not keep it down to worry the under-employed Smith.

But that only succeeded in stirring up Forest, who responded with a rapier-like counter. Anderson was fed the ball on the right flank and his low cross was swept in by McGugan for the goal his non-stop display had deserved.

The City fans responded with a cheeky chorus of "You're not as good as County" - and in goal terms against the Bantams, maybe they're not.

But the mood around the ground darkened three minutes from time when Bateson's frustration got the better of him and he went clattering through the back of Tyson in front of the Forest box.

The young defender was surrounded by angry Forest players before he was shown a red card on his debut. The impressive Tyson had to be stretchered off and, with Forest already using three subs, both sides finished the game with ten men.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST	BRADFORD CITY
21 Paul Smith	1 Simon Eastwood
5 Wes Morgan	2 Simon Ramsden
7 Paul Anderson	3 Luke O'Brien
8 Lewis McGugan	4 Michael Flynn
11 Nathan Tyson	5 Zesh Rehman
12 Garath McCleary	8 Lee Bullock
15 Chris Cohen	9 Gareth Evans
20 Arron Davies	12 Steve Williams
23 Dextor Blackstock	15 Joe Colbeck
28 Radoslaw Majewski	16 Jonathan Bateson
33 Joel Lynch	17 James Hanson
Substitutes:	Substitutes:
1 Lee Camp	13 Jon McLaughlin
9 Dele Adebola	10 Peter Thorne
14 Joe Garner for 20 (67)	11 Chris Brandon
17 David McGoldrick for 23 (78)	14 Michael Boulding for 9 (80)
18 Paul McKenna for 28 (78)	19 James O'Brien for 8 (69)
35 Aaron Mitchell	24 Louis Horne
39 Jordan Mitchell

MATCH OFFICIALS:
Referee	O Langford
Assistant Referee	C Akers
Assistant Referee	D K Benton
4th Official	G S Stretton

GOALSCORERS:
NOTTINGHAM FOREST	BRADFORD CITY
Anderson (46)
Blackstock (60)
McGugan (82)

DISCIPLINARY
NOTTINGHAM FOREST	BRADFORD CITY
Garner	Williams
	Bullock
	Bateson
	.