New boys gave side an instant spark: Cooper

THE performances of two of Nottingham Forest’s January signings were praised by Steve Cooper following the FA Cup victory over Arsenal.

Just a few days after they had put pen to paper, on-loan Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis and former Bournemouth defender Steve Cook made the Reds’ starting 11 at the City Ground.

Both Davis and Cook impressed in the third round tie, contributing to a superb team performance as they settled straight into their new surroundings.

“We wanted to get them in the team,” said Cooper.

“They both showed the value they will add to the squad we’ve already got here.

“You could see Keinan’s threat, his power and his technical ability. He started the game really well. I could see the fans thinking, ‘yeah, he’s good’.

“Cookie has been here before, hasn’t he? You could tell. In terms of how he played with the ball, his decision-making and his covering positions.

“I could even hear him talking, because I’m stood next to the pitch.

“It’s only a start, of course, but it’s a good one.”

Davis was substituted with little more than 20 minutes to go, having made only this third appearance of the season.

He was replaced by Lewis Grabban, who bagged what proved to be the winner in the final minutes of the game.

“To be fair to Grabbs, since I’ve been here he’s been a sub a few times and come on and scored,” Cooper added.

“Lewis is a really important part of what we’re doing.

“We have to manage him carefully, because of his age. But we work together. He’s the club captain and I value the role of the captain massively. We discuss things on a different level.

“We knew Keinan couldn’t play 90 minutes. It would have been dangerous to do that, for him and us.

“It was always going to be that whenever he came off, Lewis would come on, however the game looked.

“The guys here will not be surprised to see Grabbs come on and do that, because he’s still such a high-quality player with a bit more to give.”