Forest's Cooper gets vote of confidence from club owner

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has publicly backed coach Steve Cooper following a poor run of results in the Premier League, but the Greek shipowner added that the club's slide down the standings needs to be addressed urgently.

Forest were beaten by fellow strugglers Leeds United on Tuesday. They are now winless in eight league games and sit 17th in the standings on 27 points, the same as three other clubs, and only out of the relegation zone by virtue of a better goal difference than Bournemouth.

The defeat cast doubt on Cooper's future at City Ground, with some reports suggesting that the Welshman could become the 13th Premier League manager to be sacked this season.

"No one denies that our club is in a difficult position in the Premier League, but we wish to end the speculation and the false and disruptive reporting in the media to confirm that Steve Cooper remains our manager," Marinakis said in a statement.

"We have all been disappointed with recent performances and it is very clear that a lot of hard work needs to be done to address this urgently ... There can be no time for distractions, rumours and speculation.

"There is only time for hard work, determination, a commitment from Steve and the players to getting the results we need..."

Forest next travel to seventh-placed Aston Villa on Saturday.