Steve Cooper hails Nottingham Forest 29-year-old after delivering hammer blow

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Steve Cooper has praised Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner – after dropping him from the team. The 29-year-old was left out of the starting eleven on Sunday as the Reds beat Aston Villa.

Turner had been ever-present for Forest since he arrived from Arsenal for £10 million in the summer. On Sunday, however, Odysseas Vlachodimos came in to make his debut for the Reds.

The Greece number one was also signed in the summer. Some reports after he’d signed had claimed that Evangelos Marinakis wanted a Greek international in the squad and that led the club to Vlachodimos.

Cooper discusses Turner decision

There could be an element of psychology and saying the right things from Cooper’s perspective on Forest custodian Turner. He’s actually claimed that his error against Liverpool last week wasn’t behind the decision.

That does seem hard to believe but Cooper is defiant and he’s also claimed that Forest goalkeeper Turner took the decision in his stride.

He told Nottinghamshire Live after Sunday’s game: “The first thing I would say about that – and it’s really important – is that it wasn’t on the back of the third goal at Liverpool. Okay, it was disappointing, but we wouldn’t do that.

“I spoke to Matt early in the week and told him what I was thinking. We’ve been really pleased with Matt and what he’s done for us. If he’s done 10 per cent not so good, he’s done 90 per cent really good things.

“We had a good conversation about it and we made the change. Matt has been outstanding this week in terms of his work and his commitment.”

Turner now faces Forest fight

Nothing against Turner but it’s now hard to see where his next outing comes from at Forest. Vlachodimos is a goalkeeper who plays international football and has also got experience in the Champions League.

Turner will have swapped Arsenal for Forest with first-team football as his sole desire. Now, he faces another waiting game and it’s hard to imagine Vlachodimos losing his place any time soon.

Forest head coach Cooper has spoken quite honestly about his decision and it appears Turner has taken it well. That does bode well for the American and he must now ensure that he’s ready should he be called upon again.