Cup success can help in League push
BOSS Steve Cooper hopes knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup can build belief at Nottingham Forest as they aim to achieve their promotion goal.
The Reds took a break from their bid to break into the Championship’s top six by seeing off the Gunners 1-0 in an entertaining third round tie at the City Ground.
Lewis Grabban came off the bench to net the winner for Cooper’s side on a memorable night on the banks of the Trent, stretching to get on the end of a Ryan Yates cross with less than 10 minutes to go.
And the head coach is eager to carry that momentum into the League as Forest target mixing it with the likes of Arsenal on a regular basis in the future.
“Hopefully, it can build belief, because that’s a massive focus of mine,” said Cooper.
“I just said to the players they have to believe they belong at this club and they can be successful at this club, because we all want it and we’ve got a lot of work to do in some areas of the club.
“But moments like this will just add to the belief.
“There are going to be bumps on the road and setbacks, there are going to be poor performances and losses, that’s just the nature of it.
“We’ve got to make sure we deal with those losses well and, more often than not, play well and win games.
“It’s all part of the journey of becoming the team we want to be. There’s a lot of work to do to get there.”
It was largely a comfortable night for the Reds, with goalkeeper Brice Samba barely having a save to make.
At the opposite end, meanwhile, the hosts created plenty of positive moments.
“Results like that should give us confidence. That was the message to the boys after the game,” said Cooper.
“I believe they do, but the players have got to keep believing that they can play with the ball and they can play well, they can create chances and they can keep clean sheets, and we can be good tactically.
“All of the things that you need to be an achieving team, days like this can help with the belief.”