Cooper: Fulham had possession but Forest deserved win

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Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper admitted he did not enjoy his side’s display against Fulham – despite beating the league leaders to close the gap on second placed Bournemouth.

Philip Zinckernagel’s first-half strike after a mix-up between Tim Ream and Marek Rodak handed Forest a vital win – they now sit just three points behind the Cherries with three games remaining.

But despite praising the defending from his side, Cooper insisted after the game that it was not a typical performance from his Forest team.


“Fulham had more of the ball than us, we accept that. It’s not what I normally like but I’ll accept that tonight,” he said.

“When they got around the box we showed some intricate defending and we also showed heart and soul in the box, desire and all those words we use to try and keep the ball out of the net.

“Obviously it was a really good night in terms of the result but, okay, do I love it when we don’t have as much as the ball? No, but I accept it tonight and we deserved what we got.”

Forest still have to travel to promotion rivals Bournemouth on May 3, but Cooper refused to get carried away with talk of an automatic promotion spot this season.

He said: “It seems a mile away. You saw how intense tonight was against Fulham who were desperate to keep on winning as they have done all season and we had to match that.”