Matty Cash has hailed the work that Steve Cooper has done at Nottingham Forest but hopes to claim all three points with Aston Villa tonight.
The former Reds star hasn’t returned to the City Ground as a player but that will change tonight.
Cash has recovered from a hamstring injury to boost Steven Gerrard’s team and he should start the game.
Forest are currently bottom of the Premier League and could do with a big win on Trentside this evening.
Cash came through the academy ranks at the City Ground and became a first-team regular at the club.
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Ex-Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi transformed Cash into a right-back and he’s not looked back since then.
He moved to Aston Villa in 2020 for a fee of £16 million and will hope to go to the World Cup with Poland next month.
Ahead of tonight’s game, he’s spoken fondly of his time at Forest and also heaped praise on Cooper for the work he has done.
He told The Mirror: “They played a big part in my life and I am like a Forest fan really but I want to beat them on Monday obviously. The City Ground atmosphere will be great but hopefully, we can silence them.
“Cooper has done an amazing job getting them promoted, it came out of nowhere really. But they have signed a lot of players in a short space of time and it might take them a little while to gel.”
Cooper hailed by Cash
It’s such a shame that the 25-year-old never got to play under Cooper at Forest.
His style of play would have been perfect for Cooper’s system and he could have starred on Trentside.
Now, he’s an Aston Villa player though and he will almost certainly start the game this evening.
He’s been a regular in the team since checking in two years ago and has made 74 appearances in total.
At Forest, he played in a number of positions and wore the Garibaldi 141 times.
He was a fan favourite and it’s fair to suggest that Cash should get a strong reception tonight.
It’s a shame he won’t be wearing red this evening and Forest must be wary of the threat he could cause.