Boss Steve Cooper wants his Nottingham Forest players to savour their remaining games at the City Ground this season - just as he has urged them to do ever since taking charge.
As they fight for a top-six finish, the Reds have just four fixtures on their own turf left this term. They have successive home matches this week, against Coventry City on Wednesday night and Birmingham City on Saturday, then welcome West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City later this month.
Forest have lost just once on the banks of the Trent in 2022, having given Premier League giants Liverpool a run for their money in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. And making the most of their remaining opportunities for home advantage will be important as they chase their promotion dream.
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“It is important to make the most of these two games,” said Cooper. “But if it was two away games this week, we’d be saying the same thing, because it’s the same outcome up for grabs.
“We want to be as good as we can be at home, of course, that’s always been the objective. But at the same time, we want to be a really good outfit away from home as well - which is what we looked against Blackpool at the weekend.
“We just take each game as it comes. Wherever you are playing, whoever it is against, try to back yourself in the game, commit to it and do whatever we can to make it a positive outcome.
“I don’t think we should ever take playing at the City Ground for granted, whether it’s the first game or the last game of the season, because of the event that it is. I really feel that.
“I’ve said that before to the players. That however long you may or not be here, it won’t last forever, so you do have to savour it.
“I’m not just saying that now because there’s only a few home games left of the season, I think that should be the case for every single game that we play there, because it really is an occasion. I think that applies to every single home game of the season, of any season.”
