Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper has been encouraged by positive signs from his players in recent weeks as they start to gel as a group.
The Reds go into Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace propping up the Premier League table, but knowing they are only five points adrift of Aston Villa, in 13th. They are eager to finish on a high, going into the World Cup break, with the possibility a positive result could lift them off the foot of the division.
And after a summer of change which saw 22 signings brought in as the club prepared for life in the top-flight, Cooper believes there is reason to be hopeful. He also has some tough decisions to make for the weekend’s clash, after a number of players came into the side and impressed in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur.
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The Welshman will make fitness checks on defender Scott McKenna and midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, who were left out of the squad in midweek after picking up knocks. He will also be without Orel Mangala, who is suspended after being sent off against Spurs, while Harry Toffolo (hamstring), Moussa Niakhate (hamstring), Omar Richards (hairline fracture of the leg) and Giulian Biancone (ACL) remain absent.
“A couple of boys missed out yesterday through knocks - Scott McKenna and Cheikhou. We will see how they are going into the weekend,” Cooper said. “We also picked up a suspension with Orel, so he won’t be available for the weekend.
“I haven’t really had chance to assess the boys from last night, with it being such a quick turnaround. But I don’t see any major concerns from the game, it’s just the knocks we picked up from last weekend.
“Picking a team is always tough, there’s no doubt about that. We changed the team last night, but it was still an equally-experienced team, in terms of age, in terms of appearances and in terms of quality as well.
“Even if the break wasn’t coming up, you’d still want to try to get a positive result. But the fact it is the last one for a while, it would be great to go into the break on a positive result - every manager across the country would say the same.
“If we can finish this first phase on a positive result, that would be great. But even if we don’t we can still restart after the World Cup knowing a few positive results will get us in a much better position. Because of what we’ve been through, we have to feel fairly positive about that.”
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