Michael Dawson delivers honest Steve Cooper verdict after Nottingham Forest’s latest victory

Former Nottingham Forest defender Michael Dawson has admitted that he believes that the job that Steve Cooper has done at the City Ground has been mind-blowing.

When the Reds opted to hand over the reins to Cooper, they were facing the prospect of a relegation battle after failing to win any of their opening seven league games in the Championship.

The Forest head coach has managed to completely transform the club’s fortunes during his time at the club as they are now legitimate contenders for automatic promotion with three matches left to play.

Cooper’s side guaranteed a play-off spot last night by securing a 1-0 victory in their showdown with league leaders Fulham.

Philip Zinckernagel scored what turned out to be the winning goal for the Reds in the 15th minute of this fixture.

As a result of AFC Bournemouth’s draw with Swansea City, Forest are now only three points behind Scott Parker’s side in the Championship standings and are set to take on their rivals next week.

Following the club’s triumph over Fulham, Dawson offered his thoughts on Cooper’s impact at Forest.

Asked on Sky Sports (as cited by the Nottingham Post) to describe the Welshman’s time at the club, Dawson said: “Mind-blowing.

“When he walked through the door in September, if you said that they would challenging for the top two, people would have laughed at you, and I would have been one of those people.

“It was impossible.

“Bottom of the league table to where they are now, chasing Bournemouth down.

“You see his emotion there (after Forest’s win over Fulham) and rightly so, because he deserves to have that passion and desire, because these Forest fans travel down in numbers.

“Tuesday night down to London, they will follow.

“They’ve done it for years, 23