Steve Cooper has said he loves something about his Nottingham Forest squad after his team climbed out of the relegation zone. The Reds defeated Southampton 1-0 at St Mary’s Stadium to win away from home in the Premier League for the first time in 24 years.
Cooper was clearly delighted with his team’s performance against a hapless Southampton. There is, of course, still work to do but this was a decent step in the right direction and Forest are now 15th in the Premier League.
The Reds’ head coach is starting to get a settled team together now. After a summer of upheaval that saw 23 new additions added to the ranks, things were always going to take a little bit of time to settle down.
Now, Forest can start to look up. The Reds were the only side in the bottom six to win during the latest round of games and are level on point with Leicester who they face at the City Ground next.
After last night’s game, Cooper spoke about the dressing room. He claims that everyone is together and it’s an aspect of doing things right that he is hugely fond of.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “The dressing room is really together – particularly the lads who didn’t play, which is what I love and what we need. This is a start, it’s a first win away from home and that’s what we needed. We ticked loads of boxes.”
Cooper loves one aspect of win over Southampton and signs look good
This was a real step in the right direction for the Reds. Now, they must forget all the disappointments from the first half of the campaign and try to finish with a flourish.
This wasn’t a win that was particularly easy on the eye. The Reds were forced to do a lot of defending in the second period but they stood up to the challenge and ultimately deserved the win.
Forest must now kick on. They face cup games against Blackpool and Wolves before facing Leicester in the league on Saturday week.
Cooper is clearly a big fan of the spirit within his dressing room. Gustavo Scarpa came on last night and he looks like the type of character that can certainly help the Forest squad.
There is no better sight than seeing Cooper with a smile on his face. After last night’s massive win, his delight was there for everyone to see.