Former Nottingham Forest striker Dean Saunders has told TalkSPORT (26/05; 09:57am) that the Reds will win the Championship Play-Off Final.
Forest take on Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday afternoon with the winners taking their place in the Premier League next season.
Steve Cooper has been a revelation since checking in at the City Ground.
His team have lost just eight matches since he arrived, with one of those coming against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final.
Now, he’s on the cusp of etching his name into Forest folklore with a win at Wembley on Sunday.
Saunders spent a short spell at the City Ground during his career, scoring five goals in 43 appearances for the club.
Now, the ex-Liverpool and Aston Villa player thinks it’s Forest’s time to shine and win promotion to the top flight.
He told TalkSPORT (26/05; 09:57am): “Steve Cooper was my youth team coach at Wrexham and I got my Pro License with him. He’s overseen 44 games and there have been just eight defeats.
“Forest have beaten Premier League teams and for me, it’s in their hands.
“For Forest…30 managers later, I think they’ve finally got their man.
“I think they’re going to go up, they’ve got some pace in the team.”
Saunders says Forest will win promotion but Cooper won’t rest on his laurels
Losing last season’s Championship play-off final will have hurt Cooper.
Not only that, but he might have learned a lot from that defeat and that could bode well for Forest this weekend.
For Saunders to say that it’s in the hands of Forest is perhaps a little bit disrespectful to Huddersfield.
They’ve lost just three times in 2022 and they go into the final as the form team in the division.
Both teams are pretty evenly matched and ultimately it will be down to whoever handles the occasion better at the weekend.
If Forest can get over the line and win promotion, the club could continue to thrive under the Welsh head coach.
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