Steve Cooper met the media on Thursday morning to preview Forest's return to Premier League action as Brighton and Hove Albion visit The City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
The Head Coach provided an injury update on his squad, including the diagnosis of Taiwo Awoniyi's injury, before reflecting on form before the international break and looking ahead to the visit of the Seagulls.
Watch the full press conference below.
On Brighton…
“It’s the first game back after an international break which always adds a little bit of context to the planning. It’s a bit of an accelerated programme and always a little bit different.
“Brighton’s trajectory is one from the outside looking in we can admire and see they do things in a really good way, including what they do on the pitch.
“We’ve got to be ready, they’ve got some really good players playing in the brand of football they play and we are aware of that, but we want the most influencing factor of the game to be on our contribution and on what we do.
“If we’re trying to become something and be a certain way, it’s on us to do that and you only do that by sticking to a set of principles week in, week out.
“We’ve got to be confident and have belief in the plan we’ll have in place and then commit to it.”
On league position…
“I’m sitting here now knowing that we could and should have more points and we missed a couple of good opportunities to take points, but I also know that this time last season we were bottom of the league.
“Let’s have the motivation to keep trying to improve and pick up more points than what we might have done last season, but also don’t get too carried away and lose sight of where we’ve come from and where we’re at.
“Those are the two driving forces behind the motivation of how we want to work.”
On injuries…
“Anthony (Elanga) had a scan just after the West Ham game and had a bit of a medial knee injury, but he’s progressing well and is back out training.
“Murillo unfortunately had a setback with his hamstring at West Ham. That was a blow for him because he’s doing well and he’s a young player who we’re enjoying giving an opportunity to.
“Danilo also limped off with an ankle sprain at the end of the game too.
“Callum (Hudson-Odoi) is just about to join back in training. He’s been on the grass a little bit doing the final stages of rehab and hopefully in the coming weeks he can be available.
“We never look for excuses, we will never dwell on it, we will focus on the players who will be available and that’s where our attention lies whilst supporting the guys who are injured.”