Nottingham Forest legend Martin O'Neill is backing his old club to stay in the Premier League as he heaps praise on manager Steve Cooper.
Speaking to the Garibaldi Red podcast as he promotes his new autobiography On Days Like These, O'Neill praised the work done by Cooper in getting Forest into the top flight after a 23-year exile, having taken over a team at the bottom of the Championship 14 months ago.
O'Neill knows how hard that is having managed Forest for five months in 2019 before he was sacked a week into pre-season.
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With Forest 18th in the table heading into the World Cup break, O'Neill is optimistic about their chances after Cooper was handed a new contract last month when it looked like he was set to be sacked by Marinakis too.
"It's been a good set of results recently and the young manager who has come in, let me tell you he's doing super, really, really super," O'Neill said.
"Getting the team up last year considering the position he inherited - really good, well done him. Then he's had a lot of players thrown at him and having to manage them, manage expectations and manage players not in the side - you need time to do that.
"He looked as if he was under severe pressure even early on in proceedings and he shouldn't have been. It was nice to the see at least a token effort by the owner of the football club to give him a contract and get things sorted out.
"Well done to him (Cooper). They had an excellent season to get promoted. There's no reason with the players they have - and you still have to manage them - you've got a lot of players there but the squad is strong enough having spent a fair amount of money, the squad is strong enough to stay up without a doubt."
Martin O'Neill's autobiography, On Days Like These, is out now. The Forest legend will be signing copies on Saturday at Waterstones on Bridlesmith Gate between 2pm and 3pm.
The full podcast interview is out now on YouTube and your favourite audio platforms.
Are you confident Forest will stay up? Have your say in the comments section below
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