Garner says Reds fired up as they see path to the top six

MIDFIELDER BELIEVES COOPER’S MEN CAN PUSH FOR PLAY-OFFS

THE Championship play-off places are within touching distance for Nottingham Forest – and that has made the squad even hungrier to get there, according to James Garner.

Only two points separate the Reds from the top six ahead of tonight’s home clash against Huddersfield Town (7.45pm).

They could have snatched one of those spots on Boxing Day, had they come away with a positive result at Middlesbrough. But instead, defeat brought an end to a nine-match unbeaten streak for Steve Cooper’s side.

Midfielder Garner, though, says there is no question the motivation is there in the dressing room to quickly get back on track and set up a gripping second half of the campaign.

“When I came in last season, we were at the bottom of the table. Now, we’re in the top half,” said the Manchester United loanee.

“We’re all hungry. It’s in touching distance.

“If we’d won at the weekend, we would have been in the play-offs.

“We can all see it. We’re all hungry for it. It’s almost there. You can see it.

“That’s the mentality that we’ve all got at the moment – that we can definitely do it.

“If we keep on playing the way we have been – apart from the weekend – then we can definitely achieve our goal.”

It has been some turnaround since Cooper took charge at the City Ground in September. Forest were rock-bottom of the table when he was appointed, having picked up a solitary point from their opening seven League games.

They are now up to ninth, while the 2-0 reverse at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday was only the second time the team have lost under the Welshman.

“I feel the goal is definitely top four or play-offs. We’ve definitely got the team – as we’ve shown in the last month or two,” said Garner.

“With the run we put on, there’s no reason why we can’t do that again. We’ve definitely got the players, definitely got the staff and definitely got the philosophy that we all believe in.

“It’s just doing it when it matters. “Keep on picking up three points and there’s no reason why we can’t end up in that top four, five or six when it comes to the end of the season.”

“I’m really enjoying my football at the moment. But it’s not just about me. I just want to win games and progress,” he added.

“We’re only a couple of points off the play-offs. If we stick together through everything around Covid at the moment, keep our group tight, and things go our way, I think we can definitely progress up the table.”