Former Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton has been very complimentary of Reds head coach Steve Cooper ahead of tonight’s game against QPR.
The man who led Forest some years ago has rebuilt his career in West London after a largely drab time of things at the City Ground.
Warburton looked like an attractive appointment when he checked in but he was sacked following a poor run of form in 2017.
Now, his QPR team are flying high in the Championship and they will hope to put serious distance between themselves at Forest with a win tonight.
Ahead of the game, Warburton has heaped praise on his opposite number.
He told the club’s official website: “Steve is a very good manager. I am sure the players are responding to some excellent coaching. It’s a fan base that’s desperate for success. They have been out of the Premier League for a very long time.”
Forest left it late to earn a share of the spoils when Forest travelled to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium earlier this season.
Jack Colback scored in injury time after Lyndon Dykes had given the hosts a lead just prior to half-time.
Forest in safer hands without Warburton
The idea was nice under Warburton but ultimately he never had the type of players to utilise the system he wanted to.
His notion was that Plan B was always to do Plan A better and that riled the supporters considerably.
Warburton is a good man, however. He’s one of the game’s good guys and he’s always been grounded in success and in defeat.
Tonight, Forest will feel that QPR can be beaten. In order to gatecrash the play-offs they’ll need to take some points off teams around them and that has to begin this evening.