Kit Symons hailed hat-trick hero Ross McCormack as Fulham edged a five-goal thriller to pile the pressure back on Forest boss Stuart Pearce.

The Scottish striker’s 28-minute treble was enough to seal the points and inflict a fourth defeat in five games on the struggling visitors, despite Henry Lansbury’s brace.

However, there is a concern over Scott Parker, after the Whites captain picked up a knock in the first half, and awaits assessment ahead of the FA Cup tie at Sunderland on Saturday.

Symons said: “Ross was excellent and took his goals well. The first two were sublime finishes and he deserved a bit of luck for the third for his overall performance.

Hat-trick: McCormack scores the third for Fulham

“It’s nice to see him scoring goals. He’s been playing well, but his contribution has never been in doubt.”

“They had a right go; credit to them. We were under pressure to long throws and corners but were resolute and were stood up.

Fulham were 3-0 when Parker got a whack, and it meant McCormack had to play longer than his manager wanted.

“He (Parker) picked up a knock in the first half," Symons said. "If it was going well I was looking to take him off and rest him. We will assess him in the morning and see how he is for Saturday.

"If it was more comfortable I wanted to rest Ross as well. It was quite tight in the end.

At the double: McCormack celebrates his second goal

“If we can win a couple more on the spin can we be looking up, if we lose a couple looking at relegation. We can’t get too carried away because it can come back and bite you on the behind.

"We could go on run and have got the ability too. Every team goes on non-winning run. We lost three league games in a row but didn’t become bad team over night.