Nottingham Forest will take encouragement from how they coped with a pressure-cooker game against relegation rivals Southampton.
The Reds were aware of how other teams battling for survival had fared prior to kick-off on Monday night at the City Ground. Leicester City had been toppled by Fulham, while Everton beat Brighton and Hove Albion in the day’s earlier matches, while Leeds United had lost at Manchester City on Saturday.
Steve Cooper’s side knew victory over the Saints would lift them out of the bottom three with three games to play. It was a nervy and dramatic evening on the banks of the Trent, but the hosts came through to claim a huge three points - something the head coach believes will stand them in good stead in their remaining matches.
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“It would be impossible to not know,” Cooper said, when asked if Forest were aware of the earlier results. “There are TVs and phones everywhere, and there’s enough time between kick-offs.
“And also, we have chosen to have no elephants in the room and always talk openly about the situation we’re in. All of us - players and staff - will deal with things in different ways. I want to give everybody the opportunity to deal with it in the way they’re most comfortable, and sometimes that’s by talking about things.
“But we always bring it back to what we do and what we can influence, the difference we can make - that will be our games and getting the results we want. We saw what was going on, but we were more focused on what we were planning on doing. I think we did a good job of staying in the moment. Loads of games have been played since we walked off the pitch at Brentford, so to show the concentration that we did during the game is a good sign.
“It’s just good to give everyone a win. We all want the same thing. Everyone is trying their hardest to be at their best, to get nights like this.
“I would have loved to have kept the two-goal deficit. I even said at half-time, when it was 3-1, that the first goal was a warning. We needed to concentrate, stay in position, stick to the plan.
“As much as we love playing in this atmosphere, it was important we didn’t let it interfere with our decision-making. Everyone is just really doing their best to get what we all want.”
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