steve cooper challenged him nottingham forest The players will look to prove they can perform on the biggest stage when they head to Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Forest have little hope of turning around from a 3-0 deficit from the first leg carabao cup semi final against A manchester united The side that has won its last 11 home games.
But although he recognizes that their chances of reaching Wembley are almost gone, Cooper has set other goals for his side by demanding performances from his players.
High among them is improving a poor record in the Premier League’s top four – Forest have conceded 16 goals without reply in trips to Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle and United in the league, including a 3–0 win at Old Trafford. Necklace is also included. At the end of December.
“What we haven’t done this year is be able to perform really well at a stage like Old Trafford, the Etihad or the Emirates,” Cooper said. “We’ve talked about it and the boys themselves have talked about it.
Can we look like a better team somewhere like Old Trafford on an occasion like this?
“As I said straight away (after the first leg), no matter how frustrating it was, we have to find some clear purpose to get out of the game. There’s always a purpose because of who we play for and what it represents but We always add some other things too.
“It could be important if we can come out of Old Trafford and play well and get positive results.”
Forest’s squad includes players who have previously shone in such arenas, in the likes of former United midfielder Jesse Lingard and former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham defender Serge Aurier, but Cooper said it was not down to individuals.
“We have a few players who have played on the big stage before and excelled but it would be wrong for me to say that it is about this player or that player,” he added. “As a team we have to show that.
“But hopefully there are people within it thinking, ‘I could do that, that’s a platform I want to play on’. Same goes for me.
There are certainly many famous occasions through history where teams have beaten the odds to reverse even bigger losses, but it didn’t take long for Cooper to take any inspiration from them this week.
“If you focus too much on things like that, you forget about getting ready for the game,” he said.
“There’s little chance and where there’s chance there’s hope. If there’s hope you’ve got to give it your all but we’re 3-0 down and it’s Old Trafford and chances are slim.
“We have to use all this as motivation to play better than what we did in the last two games against Manchester United.
“It will still not be enough to get the result because they are a world class team. You can see the players they have and you feel it even more when you go up against them.
“We just have to focus on ourselves, try and do well, and see what we can take out of the game in a positive way.”