Head coach Steve Cooper welcomes scrutiny over Nottingham Forest’s away form as they prepare to face Southampton.
The Reds have picked up two points from eight Premier League games on the road so far this season. The only goal they have scored on their travels was at Everton, back in August.
Cooper knows those statistics need to change, if his team are to retain their top-flight status. Taking on the side sitting bottom of the table presents a big opportunity to do just that.
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“There are going to be obvious questions about our away form, and I quite welcome those questions because I really want us to face up to things that we need to improve on,” Cooper said, ahead of the trip to St Mary’s.
“It would be easy for me to swerve the questions and skirt around the edges. I am not going to do that. Our away form needs to get better and needs to improve, and we need to challenge ourselves to do that.
“We are just looking at the context for ourselves and how we can go down there and play well and win. We are looking forward to doing that.
“The only way of improving something with a football team is playing games. How do you improve your away form? Go and win away games. That is what we are going to be looking to do.”
The Welshman has played down any suggestion of Wednesday night’s game carrying any extra importance, being against a relegation rival. Forest are level on points with 17th-placed West Ham United, but are stuck in the bottom three due to their inferior goal difference. The Saints are two points adrift as they prop up the division.
“I still think it is too soon to be looking at everybody else,” Cooper said. “Where we are as a club and a team, and everything we have been through, it’s the right thing just to look at ourselves.
“We are taking it one game at a time. Southampton is next, and we will treat that game like we do every game, in terms of analysing them and putting together what we think is the right plan to go and play well and win down there. But our main focus at the moment is just ourselves and trying to grow our way, our identity, our culture and the way we play, because if we get that right it gives ourselves a chance of picking up enough points to succeed.
“We want to improve the league table, so I am not saying we are not thinking about it, but we are not thinking about the teams in and around it. We are just thinking about improving our position, and to do that we just have to focus on ourselves.”
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