Head coach Steve Cooper has made clear Nottingham Forest must improve their away record if they are to get out of trouble in the Premier League table.
The Reds have picked up just two points from eight games on their travels so far this season, and have not scored since the 1-1 draw at Everton, back in August. At the other end of the pitch, they have conceded 22 times, including shipping three against Manchester United on Tuesday night.
They thought they had found the back of the net at Old Trafford, only for Ryan Yates’ header to be ruled out for deflecting off the offside Willy Boly. And Cooper also rued his side’s lack of conviction when they got into good areas.
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With league trips to Southampton and Bournemouth coming up next month, Forest need to make the most of those opportunities against teams around them. It is an issue the Reds boss will continue to cast a spotlight on, after the squad held discussions about their travel sickness during the World Cup break.
“We won’t let it be the elephant in the room,” said Cooper. “We will always talk about things that have to be much better going forward. For sure, away form and scoring goals away from home, is something we clearly have to improve on. We won’t be shying away from anything we need to get better at.
“What we’ve got to do is really stick to what we believe is going to be our way to succeed this season. Having the break has given us an opportunity to sit down and talk about these things.
“We did have some moments of success before the World Cup break. Were we winning enough games and picking up enough points? No, but it was certainly better before the break than what it was in the period before.
“We’ve got to believe in that way and really commit to it now, because you have to have a way in this league. If we do that, we give ourselves the best chance of succeeding. But you’ve got to back that up with belief - and that’s going to be a big factor for us this year.
“Just because we are away from home doesn’t mean we can’t play well, win, score goals and have good moments in games. Who knows, if that set-piece (against United) is not offside, Sam Surridge has a good chance, in a couple of the scrambles from corners if one had fallen to one of our guys, then things could have been different.
“But for me, with those moments, what we have got to do is make a difference in our plan. We got in some good positions first half; not loads, but we got in some positions. And that was the plan, to get in certain areas and then hit them on the counterattack with fast attacks.
“It’s one thing saying it, it’s another thing doing it. We just didn’t show enough quality in doing it, and that continued a little bit in the second half.”
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