Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper has admitted that he did not consider rotating his side for the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final vs Manchester United - despite being 3-0 down from the first leg - with a crunch Premier League clash vs Leeds United on the weekend.
Jesse Marsch's side will be looking for their first win in the English top-flight since November when they take on Forest this Sunday. The Whites travel to the City Ground buoyed from their FA Cup win vs Accrington Stanley hoping to gain some momentum following a bumper January transfer window.
Cooper's squad conversely come into the game having lost 5-0 on aggregate to Manchester United in their two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final. Forest faced an uphill battle having lost the first tie 3-0 and many thought - even though a cup final was on the line - the Forest boss would consider naming a weakened side in their second leg on Wednesday night with one eye on their match against Leeds.
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However, Cooper rebuffed that idea as he admitted that injuries prevented him from choosing a much-changed starting XI.
"We're only focused on tonight [vs Man United]," he told Sky Sports ahead of kick-off. "A lot of it [team selection] was unavoidable with injuries, we've obviously got a lot of injuries which is disappointing.
"Couple of lads carrying knocks that can only make the bench tonight so no we're only thinking about what we can get out of tonight, that's always been our mantra. It is quite easy to think beyond that [vs Leeds] but we're not going to - we just want to get what we can out of tonight.
"And whatever we get - good, bad or indifferent - we will take it as it comes and try and make it better and stronger for for the next game. But no, we're not looking for further than tonight because you can't. It's such a tough game, United at Old Trafford. They've got a really strong team out again and we shouldn't look any further than that."
Marsch will be hoping that his squad can now take advantage of some tired legs in what is set to be a tense affair at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon.
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