Cooper: Fanks a million

NINE unbeaten, and with self-belief flooding through their veins, resurgent Nottingham Forest appear a decent bet to make the play-offs under Steve Cooper.

The Welshman quit as Swansea manager to take the reins at the City Ground in late September and has performed a highly impressive job.

Forest have only lost once in 15 matches since Cooper (below) arrived and three straight wins have fired them to the brink of the top six.

The two-time European Cup winners beat Hull last weekend in front of a raucous crowd of 26,513.

Cooper said: “I know I go on about it, but I don’t care – the fans are unique.

“It’s a difficult time and an expensive time at the moment, but 26,000 turn up and make that noise.”

On-loan Watford striker Philip Zinckernagel agreed with his boss, and said: “The fans have been amazing and it is a huge joy to play in front of them. It’s one of the reasons I came to England, to play in front of fans like this. We really have the best in the league.

“You can feel they are proud and expect a lot, which is something we try to enjoy instead of turning it against us.

“A lot of clubs have fans who only show up when it’s going great – but our fans are always with us.”

The Dane has impressed this term, with a handful of assists and four goals.

He added: “Six assists is OK, but I would like to score a few more goals.

“For the team, I hope we can get into the top six or as close as possible, but for myself, I want more goals and more assists.

“I came here to play minutes regularly, that’s an important factor, but I really just want to improve.”