Warm-ups completed on Wednesday night, the Nottingham Forest players headed back down the City Ground tunnel. As they headed to the dressing room Scott McKenna was there, fist-bumping his teammates as they filed past.
After Morgan Gibbs-White had fired in a penalty to put the seal on a 3-1 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion, he was enveloped in a mass huddle. Jesse Lingard was in the thick of it and subsequently led the dancing on the pitch. Sam Surridge, Emmanuel Dennis and Remo Freuler had all raced down the touchline to join in the celebrations, too.
Final whistle blown, Dean Henderson could be found hugging members of the coaching staff. Chris Wood was pitchside, as was Gustavo Scarpa. And Steve Cook. Ryan Yates is never very far away.
READ MORE: Brentford boss makes ‘small’ Forest admission ahead of clash
READ MORE: Cooper addresses Shelvey situation as Forest stance set
All of which illustrates the sense of togetherness in the Reds' squad. Signs of unity are more obvious after a win, of course, but those players would have been there for their teammates regardless of the outcome.
McKenna is out for the rest of the season, likewise Wood. There is a question mark over whether Manchester United loanee Henderson will feature again this term. Lingard, Surridge, Dennis and Freuler were all unused substitutes, some of those players have seen much less game time than they probably would have liked. Cook isn’t even in the 25-man squad. Yet still, they were all there.
Head coach Steve Cooper has always been about creating a tight-knit group and forging a sense of comradeship. Forest felt the benefit of that last season; and they need it again.
And while he has played down the incident with Jonjo Shelvey last week which resulted in the midfielder not travelling to Liverpool, the above examples highlight why Cooper took the stance he did. Particularly at this point in the campaign, with their Premier League status in the balance, the Reds need everyone to be pulling in the same direction. Individual circumstances come second to collective need.
Quizzed on Shelvey in his pre-match press conference, Cooper insisted there is “no ill-feeling” and the pair’s relationship is “good”. The January signing, he said, is definitely available for Saturday’s trip to Brentford.
Shelvey can still have a part to play as Forest bid to beat the drop. Given the number of injuries, it could be all hands to the pump. Cooper will need everybody. But while what happened may be water under the bridge, a clear point has also been made.
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