Head coach Steve Cooper is pleased Nottingham Forest have been able to do plenty of transfer business early as they prepare for their Premier League return.
The Reds have had less build-up time than most of their top-flight rivals, having secured promotion right at the end of May. A lot of planning was already going on before then, however, based on the possibility of going up - and no time has been wasted since.
Forest have been busy in the transfer market, and there is more business still to be done as further reinforcements are targeted. But with six new faces through the door already, Cooper has made good progress in shaping his squad.
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Asked whether the shorter preparation period had been a challenge, the Welshman said, after his team’s 1-0 friendly win over Burton Albion: “I don’t like excuses, so I look at it positively. If someone said we were going to be preparing for a Premier League campaign, I would have taken any situation.
“Let’s enjoy it. Let’s thrive on it and get ready.
“A day hasn’t gone by where I haven’t been thinking about what it takes to prepare for this season. That’s my mentality.
“If you’re going to bring signings in, it’s always good to do it as early as possible. We’ve acted fairly quickly. So, so far, so good - both on and off the pitch.
“We want to introduce how we work and how we play, both in training and in games, so they can get up to speed as quickly as possible. Equally as important is that they integrate themselves into the club, with their teammates and with the staff, and into the city.”
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson and defenders Moussa Niakhate, Giulian Biancone, Omar Richards and Neco Williams have put pen to paper this summer, while Taiwo Awoniyi is the only attacking recruit so far. But Cooper says it was not a deliberate strategy to build from the back, with midfield and up front both areas still to be addressed.
“What I’ve learnt is it’s not easy to sign a Premier League player - because that’s what we are now, a Premier League team,” he said. “It’s not a quick process, there’s loads of things that need to happen to eventually get them through the door. It was coincidence, more than anything else, that our first signings have been defensive ones.”
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