Steve Cooper has spoken to the media ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Here’s what the Forest Head Coach had to say in this morning’s press conference…
On belief…
“The key thing now is about the next period of games until the end of the season.
“The biggest thing that we’ve done here in the last 18 months is build belief - build belief in our club, in our city, in our team, in the way we work, the relationships with each other. Now is the time to believe more than ever.
“That’s where we have to really focus, believing in how we play, believing in how good we can be, believing in our teammates, now’s the time to really show that.
"What we need to remind ourselves of is that we are only three points off 12th place and that's exactly the mindset that keeps us striving to be better."
On the support…
“The overriding feeling I get is just to work even harder, be even more motivated and do whatever it takes to not let these people down.
“I’m so proud to work for this club, it increases every single day. I feel honoured and privileged to manage at The City Ground and try and represent it well, not just on a game day.
“I feel a big sense of responsibility to the supporters and all of that means everything to me, but we’ve got to get back on the training ground and get back to work.
“The most important thing is to play better than we did the other night and win more games than we have recently.”
On Aston Villa…
“They are in good form for good reason, the way they play, the way they set up tactically, they’re playing with confidence and we’re playing them at a time when they’re playing really well.
“We’ve got to go there and commit to the plan that we put in place.
“The players who are lucky enough to start need to back themselves and back their teammates. We need to go there and give everything we’ve got.”