Sam Surridge is reaping the rewards of feeling at “home” at Nottingham Forest, according to boss Steve Cooper.
The front man scored a superb second-half treble as Swansea City were thumped 5-1 at the City Ground. That hat-trick took his tally to eight goals in 18 appearances for the Reds since his January move from Stoke City, and he received a standing ovation from the home fans when he came off with 15 minutes to go.
With Lewis Grabban and Keinan Davis sidelined, Surridge has been getting his chance in the starting XI. And Cooper has challenged the striker to keep his red-hot form going as Forest head into their last two games of the regular campaign still in with a chance of sealing automatic promotion.
Read more: How the Reds rated against Swansea
Read more: Riverside views and St Andrew's sadness mark out best and worst Forest away days
“We have given him an opportunity. Sam needed a home. Hopefully he has found one here, because we really believe in him,” said the Reds head coach.
“I worked with him before, ironically at Swansea. I was gutted when he left, but he’s here now and we love working with him.
“He has had to wait a little bit for starts. He had to wait until others were unfortunate with injury, but he has stepped up, hasn’t he? Hopefully he can keep it going.
“As soon as we knew there was a chance of getting him in January, the club backed me. Hopefully it’s starting to show now, but we’ve got to keep it going.”
A Cyrus Christie own goal had opened the scoring on the banks of the Trent. The visitors hit back through Michael Obafemi before Surridge secured the three points after the break and Alex Mighten added gloss to the final scoreline.
