Steve Cooper not sure how Nottingham Forest will restart after World Cup break
Cooper’s side avoided being bottom of the Premier League at Christmas but remain in the relegation zone
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Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper admits he is not sure how his side will fare when they return to competitive action.
Forest, who take on Blackburn in a fourth-round Carabao Cup tie at Ewood Park on Wednesday, climbed off the foot of the Premier League table by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 before the World Cup break.
Cooper’s side avoided being bottom at Christmas, but have since had mixed results in four friendly fixtures, which ended with Friday’s 2-1 win in Valencia.
The Forest boss said: “We’ll see. It’s been a unique situation with the winter World Cup and going into the break.
“We’ve all had a plan that we’ve committed to, so let’s see down the line how we restart and look as a team and what results we get and we’ll see from there.”
A 2-1 friendly defeat to Stoke earlier this month was followed by narrow 3-2 and 1-0 losses in Greece to Atromitos and Olympiacos respectively.
Forest head to Blackburn on the back of a win thanks to goals from Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis at the Mestalla, but Cooper was not entirely satisfied with his side’s performance.
“I need to push the guys to be better with the ball, because when we do show good quality with it we can create good chances, which is how we were starting to look just before the break.
“Great in terms of attitude, great in terms of minutes and legs, a couple of players playing out of position.
“So we go back now in a better place. We have done after every game. Some of the games we haven’t played well at all, but there are some things we’ve taken out of the games which we were looking for.
“We get back to the training ground now and we’re looking forward to a competitive match against Blackburn.”
New Brazilian signing Gustavo Scarpa, who joined on a free transfer from Palmeiras earlier this month, is not eligible until January 1.
Morgan Gibbs-White sustained a knock against Valencia and could miss the cup tie at Blackburn with a view to being fit for next Tuesday’s Premier League game at Manchester United.