Steve Cooper says he is looking forward to integrating new players into his squad as Forest prepare to return to Premier League action on Monday night.
The Reds signed off for the international break with a 1-0 win over Chelsea last time out and return to action as Burnley visit The City Ground for the second time this season.
Ahead of Monday's match, Cooper met the media to discuss a wide range of topics following the break and the closure of the transfer window...
On integrating new players into the squad…
“It’s definitely a process, that’s for sure.
“We learnt that last season, we had to go through the process of becoming a team, then it was fairly similar when we picked up all the injuries in the second half of the season where we had to reset again.
“It’s definitely a balancing act when you bring some players in terms of integration into the team, and hopefully we can get that balancing right.
“Some have played a lot of games, some haven’t, so there’s a lot of individual context and it’s something we’re really looking forward to.”
On competition for places…
“It’s a competitive group now, there’s strength in depth and real competition for places which is what we want from goalkeeper to the players at the top of the pitch.
“That’s the sort of culture you want, where players have to work hard to be in the next team.”
On Ibrahim Sangaré…
“We’ve only seen him train today for the first time having only just returned from international duty, so it’s nice to meet him properly.
“We look forward to working with him, he has undoubted quality and is the profile of midfield player we wanted to bring in.
“It’s been quite a long process in getting him here, but we’re delighted he’s chosen us as he could have chosen so many other clubs and we’re really looking forward to working with him.”
On Burnley…
“We didn’t cover ourselves in glory last time out against Burnley and I didn’t enjoy the performance one bit, so there’s always bits to learn from.
“Sometimes the best way to learn is through the bad games and the tough moments and that certainly wasn’t one we did well in at all.
“Whether that has an impact on Monday, I’m not too sure. We’ll just be focusing on ourselves and how we commit to the plan that we feel will be the right one for the game. If we do that, then we give ourselves a good chance of picking up the result we want.”