A Nottingham Forest fan has hit out at the “real and justified anger” he witnessed when dozens of supporters experienced delays in getting into the City Ground on Saturday.

Scores of fans missed the start of the Reds’ FA Cup tie with Luton Town as they were late entering the stadium. Forest subsequently issued an apology and said the sub-zero temperatures on the day meant a delay in opening the Upper Bridgford turnstiles due to the “stubborn icy conditions”.

Rob Carlyle, a season card holder in the Upper Bridgford stand, said he was among those left queueing outside the ground for a long period of time. He said the situation was “not good enough” and posed an open letter on X addressed to: “Those responsible for hundreds being left in queues outside the freezing City Ground.”

His letter said: “Today, with hundreds of other fans I was left for over an hour in the freezing cold queuing to get to our seats in the Upper Bridgford stand. I witnessed real and justified anger.”

He went on to outline his “key concerns”,l adding in his letter: “The club made no public announcement of the problem of icing in the Upper Bridgford stand.”

“The club made no welfare provisions for those queuing in freezing temperatures. People were compelled to urinate against walls. One small, very distressed girl accompanied by her mother was desperate for the toilet and unable to find one.

“Fans repeatedly asked any stewards around to open the gates and let fans in. They had to wait for an hour before this happened.

“Giving the club the benefit of the doubt, the icing of the stadium steps happened shortly before the stadium was opened. Instead of leaving fans outside for well over an hour it would have been better to make an announcement and have club representatives on hand to communicate with fans and to help identify elderly or vulnerable fans or children.

“Instead of treating the fans as you did, fans could have been welcomed to the stadium concourse where toilet and refreshment facilities are available while the stands were prepared. Volunteers could have been called for if necessary to help clear the ice.

“Forest is our club. Mr Marinakis (owner Evangelos Marinakis) urged us to embrace the family spirit of the club. Today fans appear to have been an afterthought and did not feel embraced!” He added: “This was a poor performance, well below the standards our club should set for itself.”

A club statement, issued on Saturday, said: "We regret that due to the freezing conditions around the City Ground for today’s FA Cup tie against Luton Town, a number of supporters were unable to access the Upper Bridgford stand ahead of kick off. Despite regular gritting ahead of kick off, persistent and stubborn icy conditions on the vomitories dictated that a small number of turnstiles providing access to the Upper Bridgford stand had to be closed in the interests of the safety of supporters.

“Thankfully the vast majority of fans were inside the stadium within 10 minutes of kick off, but the club wishes to apologise sincerely to those fans who were inconvenienced as a result of this issue. The safety and security of our staff and supporters is our number one priority on matchdays.”

Forest have been approached for a response to Mr Carlyle's open letter after a number of supporters responded to the post on X and described their own experiences.

READ MORE: Arne Slot delivers verdict on Nottingham Forest title challenge ahead of Liverpool showdown

READ MORE: Nottingham Forest return for French midfielder 18 months on from first transfer links

One fan, @Paul_Coffey88, replied: “It was pretty shambolic. Luckily we got in for 3.15… guy next to me made it in at 34 mins with loads still outside.”

Another with the username @AskJames said: “Good letter. Wonder why KO wasn’t put back? Sad to miss so much of the first half.”

Meanwhile, @MatthewBoot wrote: “top letter this. my lads 6, even said shall we “just go home” proper looking after supporters. and pushing young supporters away. club asked fans to get there early because of the ticketing. yet why wasnt they there early cleaning the stand?”

The Reds won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa. They have been drawn away to Exeter City in the fourth round of the cup. Nuno Espirito Santo's side are next in action on Tuesday night when they host title rivals Liverpool in the Premier League

Did you experience a delay getting into the City Ground? Click HERE to have your say