Steve Cooper has praised Callum Hudson-Odoi after Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Burnley at the City Ground. The Reds secured a point after the new signing scored an amazing debut goal.
Hudson-Odoi signed for Forest from Chelsea for just £3 million. Given that the Blues can’t buy a win at the moment, it must have been sickening for them to see the 22-year-old shine last night.
Forest boss Cooper will have been the instigator behind Forest going for Hudson-Odoi. He was part of the England under-17 squad that won the World Cup and the Reds head coach made him integral.
After last night, Cooper praised the performance of Hudson-Odoi after he earned Forest a point. He also had some thoughts on what the next challenge should now be.
He told BBC Radio Nottingham: “I thought he had some good moments. He looks after the ball and he can drag people in and we need that in our game.
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“We’ve had some goals like that scored against us in the Premier League and we’ve not really scored one ourselves.
“For Callum to show that he can do that is great. The knock-on effect is that the supporters have seen that we’ve signed a really good player.
“I know that Callum has quality. Me and him have got to work closely together with the rest of the coaching team and his teammates to push really hard.
“He’s done well tonight and he’s scored but his mindset has got to be to do even better.”
Cooper lauds Forest star Hudson-Odoi after superb goal
Clearly, the Forest boss is happy to have got his man over the line. He’s a quality player on his day and if anyone can get him back to his best, it’s Cooper.
Forest needed more quality in attack. With Brennan Johnson heading to Tottenham, it was vitally important that the Reds managed to get someone like Hudson-Odoi over the line.
At one point, it seemed as though the winger was heading to Fulham. Given how he performed last night, it looks as though Forest might have got themselves a real bargain with Hudson-Odoi.