Despite Nottingham Forest’s indifferent campaign in the Premier League, he is happy with the positivity shown by his supporters.
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Nottingham Forest and Southampton take on each other in a mouth-watering contest between two relegation threatened sides. The home side is placed at the 18th spot, while the Saints are rock bottom in the Premier League table. This is an important clash against a direct rival for both teams, hence they would do anything to get the maximum points. Forest manager Steve Cooper wants to make the most of the home advantage to get the maximum points from this crucial encounter.
With not many games left in the season, every point counts for both clubs. “We’re at home and they’ll be an expectation from the supporters, and rightly so, therefore we’ve got to thrive in that moment. The bigger the games get, it’s even more important to focus on performance and what you’re in control of and use the context around the game as motivation,” Steve Cooper was quoted by their club’s website ahead of the Southampton clash.
“You have to keep that stored in your mind, but where the focus needs to be at the forefront of your mind is what it takes to do well and the controllables. At this moment, it’s the preparation for the game, then when the games comes, it’s delivering what’s needed. It’s in our hands. We have to focus on what it’s going to take to win the game and give everything we can to deliver that.”
Steve Cooper then went on to praise the supporters for always backing the team. Despite Nottingham Forest’s indifferent campaign in the Premier League, he is happy with the positivity shown by his supporters. “We’ve been fortunate that the supporters have been unconditional with us in what they’ve given us. Even we’ve not been winning games at home, we haven’t seen supporters leave, the atmosphere has been amazing not just when we’ve won, but sometimes even when we’ve been a goal down. The atmosphere has never let us down.”
The Nottingham Forest manager also went on to explain how the team also discusses about the support they get from the fans. “When you’re in this position in the league, it’s not normal to receive the positive support that we get. I’m sure that even though the supporters sometimes won’t feel as positive inside, they never show it in what they give the team. We’re really grateful for the support, we talk about it a lot, and we’re going to need it,” he added. Steve Cooper was also equally pleased with the support the fans have given them during the away matches.
“The away support has been equally as good as well, and that’s probably been even more demanding for the supporters to give what they’ve given us because how we’ve done away from home. We need to own up to all of these things. The supporters have been a massive aspect of anything good we’ve done this season, but we’ve got play our part and give them something to be proud of, to be connected to and be associated with. It’s a real work ethic, attitude and commitment to getting results in the way Nottingham Forest stands for,” he elaborated.
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