Improving Nottingham Forest’s away form is a priority for head coach Steve Cooper in 2023/24.
After survival had been secured last term, the Welshman spoke about the Reds needing to build on that platform. Needing to progress.
“Staying in the league has given us a real good opportunity now to build this football club even more than what we’ve done in the last two years. I, and we, are so determined to do that,” he said.
READ MORE: Forest Premier League fixtures 2023/24 - schedule for the new campaign
READ MORE: Nottingham Forest 23/24 fixtures live - Premier League schedule revealed
There are many facets to that. Picking up more than just the one win Forest managed on the road on their return to the top-flight is one of them.
But if Cooper was hoping for a gentle start to the new campaign to work towards that goal, the fixtures have not been kind. Some of the Reds’ biggest games will come very early on.
Four of their first six matches are away from home. And all against tough opposition, in Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Starting with a trip to the Emirates, scene of a 5-0 thumping last time out, is straight in at the deep end. If Cooper and his side are keen to show positive strides have been made on their travels, they will get a substantial examination of those credentials from the off. The Welshman will no doubt see it as a challenge to be relished and an opportunity to quickly prove a point.
On the flip side, taking on newly-promoted Sheffield United and then Burnley in the first two home games should give Forest a solid chance of maintaining their superb record at the City Ground. Given teams who have just come up often carry momentum, there is the potential for those clashes to be banana skins, in the same way as home games against Bournemouth and Fulham were last season. In order to make progress, the Reds need to avoid that - with Luton Town then visiting in October.
Indeed, if the Reds are to push on, the opening two months of the campaign present a significant test. In addition to the six matches mentioned above, September rounds off with a home game against Brentford.
Still, if last season taught us anything it’s that it is not always about how you start, but about how you finish. And Forest finished strong.
They will hope to have survival secured earlier this time, having avoided a nervy final day by clinching it with a game to spare in 2022/23. With that in mind, April could be a big month once again.
At home to Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City. Away to Tottenham Hotspur and Everton.
Cooper’s men go into the new campaign with plenty to be positive and optimistic about. The aim has to be coming through what looks to be a brutal start with those feelings intact.
What do you make of Forest's fixtures? Have your say in the comments below
READ NEXT
