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Nottingham Post

Sport

Sarah Clapson

Away form, Dennis, selection dilemma - Nottingham Forest questions answered ahead of key clash

Forest Nottingham Forest Steve Cooper Villa Aston Villa Emmanuel Dennis Morgan GibbsWhite Aurier Brennan Johnson EPL

Nottingham Forest desperately need an upturn in fortunes as they approach their final nine games of the Premier League season.

Owner Evangelos Marinakis publicly backed Reds head coach Steve Cooper in midweek as he moved to end speculation about his future, but he warned results must improve “immediately”. Forest head to Aston Villa this afternoon looking to end a miserable run of form which has left them outside of the bottom three on goal difference.

Ahead of the match at Villa Park, Reds reporter Sarah Clapson held a live Q&A on our Forest Facebook page. Here’s how it panned out.

Q: If we get Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson into the game, we will win.

A: Those two are so crucial to the way Forest play. They offer the greatest threat and are such exciting young talents.

They definitely need to see more of the ball than they did against Leeds. Gibbs-White didn’t have his best game at Elland Road; he didn’t play to anything like the level he is capable of - not that he was alone on that front.

What you’ve got to hope is that Forest have got an absolute stinker of a performance out of the way - both as individuals and collectively - and they can get back to playing how they did against Wolves. During this dip in form, they haven’t played particularly well, but Wolves was a lot more like it. It was as good as they’ve played for some time.

They didn’t build on that against Leeds, which was a big disappointment. It was a massive step back, just when they really didn’t need it.

But they’ve demonstrated what they’re capable of, so now they’ve got to get back to that standard. That’s how they’re going to give themselves any chance of getting something at Villa Park. The key is not letting what happened in midweek linger.

There’s no doubt it is going to be tough, because Villa are flying at the minute. What you want to see is Forest putting up a fight and giving it everything. They didn’t do that on Tuesday night.

There’s the possibility of dropping into the bottom three if things don’t go the right way, so the players know what is at stake. But even if that does happen, it’s still not over. Nothing will have been decided. There will still be everything to play for. A draw against Villa would be a good result, for me.

Q: Emmanuel Dennis on later, rather than starting. He played well but more of an impact player later in game. Aurier in, for me.

A: Dennis had a really good couple of games before Leeds. It was an exquisite goal he scored against Newcastle - and well deserved from his all round performance - and he was a threat again against Wolves.

If he can perform at that kind of level in the remaining games, he can be a key player, whether it be in the starting XI or making a difference from off the bench. He has definitely got the ability; he just hasn’t shown it regularly enough this season.

He was another one who was below par on Tuesday night. The priority is to make sure that ends up being an outlier of a performance for everybody.

It was a worry to see Dennis coming off at Elland Road, because Cooper needs as many options and as many players available as possible - particularly in attack. The manager was giving nothing away over whether he would be fit to face Villa.

If he is, and if Awoniyi isn’t ready to start, I’d keep the same attacking three of Dennis, Gibbs-White and Johnson. But if Awoniyi is fit enough, I’d have him back in the XI. He offers a focal point up front and can link up well with Johnson and Gibbs-White. The big hope is that he can quickly rediscover the form he was in before getting injured, because he had really started to get into his stride.

On Aurier, he is also a doubt. But when he is back, I’d definitely have him in the team. Neco Williams did well against Wolves, but he struggled at Leeds - as did Harry Toffolo on the opposite flank. After being so consistent for so long, Aurier has had a dip in form, but he still brings a lot of experience and would help shore up the defence.

Q: Only two away goals needed not to break the lowest away goal record in a Premier League season.

A: The away form has been a huge problem all season. When Forest won at Southampton in January, I really thought they would kick on from that. They were just building a bit of momentum at that time, too.

Injuries to key players disrupted things. That’s not trying to make an excuse, and you can’t pin the away form on that alone, but there’s no doubt having so many players - and such important ones - absent for long periods of time has had an impact.

I really thought going to Leeds was a good chance to turn the away form around. Particularly as the game came on the back of a good display last weekend.

Orel Mangala’s opener should have given Forest a platform to build on. But instead, they didn’t manage the game well enough. That’s something they have got to learn from. Game management has got to be better.

Cooper stressed in his pre-match press conference that belief is going to be vital for the run-in. He’s right, the mental side of things can be so decisive.

Forest have got to forget about what’s gone before and approach every match now believing they are capable of getting something. A lot of what happens between now and the end of the season will come down to which teams handle the pressure best. This is when big players and big characters need to step up and be counted.

Q: We need to push more whatever the result, we like to sit on a goal lead.

A: Forest have let a one-goal lead slip in each of the last three games. That’s a habit they really need to snap out of. You don’t want that to happen at any stage of the season, but particularly not during the run-in.

To emphasise the previous point, in part, that comes down to game management and mentality. Cooper talked on Thursday about how the team sat too deep after going in front at Leeds. It’s something which has been taken on board, but obviously the proof will be in the pudding if/when Forest do go ahead again.

Against Wolves, they were made to pay for not taking chances and making the result safe. There’s a lot they need to be better at. Right now, it’s about getting results any which way they can.