Head coach Steve Cooper says building on a memorable win over Liverpool cannot “just be words” for Nottingham Forest.
The Reds brought an end to a run of nine league games without a victory by seeing off Jurgen Klopp’s side 1-0 amid a frenzied atmosphere at the City Ground. Taiwo Awoniyi’s second half goal proved to be the difference between the two sides, although chances came at both ends of the pitch.
Dean Henderson had to make a couple of big saves to notch a second successive clean-sheet. But Morgan Gibbs-White, Brennan Johnson and Ryan Yates all had opportunities to extend the hosts’ advantage.
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A tough run of results has left Forest battling at the bottom end of the table. But Cooper hopes his team can take confidence from a hugely encouraging performance on the banks of the Trent, with a trip to Arsenal next up.
“It’s a brilliant win. To win a game against Liverpool you have to play well and you have to have big moments, particularly in both boxes - and we did, with scoring the goal and creating some more chances, and the saves and the defending we did in our box was fantastic,” he said.
“In terms of the result, it’s a positive result that we needed, because of the run we’ve been on. But also, it’s a really positive result and win because of the history and nostalgia around the game.
“I know that Forest supporters would have looked for when this game was going to be when the fixtures came out. I’m pleased that we’ve pleased many generations of supporters today, so that was good as well.
“But it’s only a win. We’re nowhere near the league position we want to be in or have the points tally we would hope to have had by now.
“At the same time, it’s given us a good reference point now to build on. That’s we have to do now. We don’t want that just to be words; we have to really look to do that.”
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