Rumours of his resignation followed Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by First Division Portsmotuh in the third round of the FA Cup.

Dave Bassett: "Feeling sorry for yourself won't get you anywhere" (Radio 5 Live)

Bassett delegated assistant Mickey Adams to attend a post-match press conference after deciding to go home because he was suffering from flu.

But he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme on Sunday: "I haven't resigned. Radio Nottingham put it out, which is a scandalous decision. People speculate, but that's the day and age we live in."

He said: "Basically as I was feeling a bit rough I said to Mickey Adams - as a manager you can delegate - 'Go and talk to the press.'

"People started to add things up and decided I'd resigned, but that's not the case."

Dave Bassett: "No manager has ever run on and scored the winning goal"

Bassett insisted he did not feel let down by his players, but acknowleged that confidence was low at present.

"We were within three minutes a fortnight ago against Blackburn. Had we won that, they would have felt a lot different. But that knocked the stuffing out of them and there's no easy way to it," he said.

"We've taken another blow where we've gone out of the FA Cup, which is disappointing because players only get a few chances to get to Wembley in their career and each year you get knocked out of the FA Cup you miss the chance."

A succesful career

Dave Bassett's managerial career began at Wimbledon, where he achieved promotion in three successive years, taking the Dons from the Fourth Division to the First.

After he left Wimbledon, Bassett took charge at Watford for a season, and then worked his promotion miracles with Sheffield United, taking them from the Third division to the First.

He took over at Crystal Palace after leaving United, before quitting mid-way through the 1996-7 season to become general manager of Forest, working alongside caretaker boss Stuart Pearce.

Forest's relegation to the first division saw Pearce stand down and leave the club, and Bassett took sole control.