Head coach Steve Cooper has been giving his Nottingham Forest players a history lesson this week as they try to claw their way out of the relegation zone.
With a 10-match winless streak to try to turn around, the Reds’ Premier League status is in jeopardy as they head into their final seven games. But Cooper has made clear to his squad that they are not facing mission impossible.
The Welshman wouldn’t point to the specific examples he used during team meetings ahead of Saturday’s trip to Liverpool. However, the likes of Aston Villa, Leicester City, Wigan Athletic, West Ham United, Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion have all pulled off their own versions of great escapes in the past couple of decades.
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“It’s not uncommon to see a positive reaction in training,” Cooper said, reflecting on Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester United. “The lads apply themselves well to training and the stuff we do off the pitch. The key is taking that into games.
“It is a tough run and it’s one we are desperately trying to change. We are facing up to it, because I think you have to.
“But what we have done with the players this week is also made them aware that this sometimes can happen. We have given them some examples of teams that have done something similar in recent years and how they have managed to come through.
“That is the key, to try to end the run and change it and come through it. I just wanted the players to know we’re not doing something that hasn’t happened before, and also, we’re not on our own. There are other teams in and around us who are probably feeling the same as us, in terms of what they are wanting to do.
“But you have got to take care of your own business, which is what we are trying to do. We are facing up to what has been a poor run, but we still have an opportunity to turn it around. It has been done on numerous occasions in the past. We have to try to be the next one.
“Teams have even gone on difficult runs this season and have ended up turning it around, going on good runs. When you are in the bottom half, it is quite common you have a run like the one we are on now. The key is to stop it and to come out of it, and that is what we are trying to do.
“But that is down to us. It is down to hard work, belief and making it happen. We can’t wait for it to happen, we have to make it happen. We are doing everything we can for that to be the case.”
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