Scott McKenna reveals message to get Nottingham Forest over the promotion line

Steve Cooper did a brilliant job at Nottingham Forest this season taking the club from the bottom of the table when he arrived to a play-off final which his side won 1-0 to gain promotion to the Premier League. 

Cooper has received plenty of praise for his work this season from inside the club with players happy to have worked under him.

Not only did Forest improve in terms of form and results under Steve Cooper but they also played an attractive game of football that allowed the players the freedom to express themselves.

This is something that defender Scott McKenna alluded claiming it was this attitude that got his side over the line as he told The Scotsman of a quote Steven Reid took off of Steve Clarke to share in the dressing room: “It was: don’t play with the fear of failure, play with the anticipation of success.

“For a lot of people, going into those games [the play-offs], it’s hard. I don’t want to be the one that makes the mistake. I don’t want to be the one that costs the team.

“But you can’t play like that. You’ve got to play with freedom and try to think about the positives and what you can do to impact the game instead of just floating through, not wanting to be the one that makes a mistake.”

The Verdict: 

It’s clear that there was a spark when Steve Cooper took over at Forest and it’s easy to see why with the messages he was giving to his players.

Forest excelled under his management being able to play with freedom as well as knowing when to tighten up and grind out results.

As they face the top flight next season, most games may seem like big occasions for the Reds and therefore it’s important that the manager continues to drill these messages into them to help spur them on to get results that will keep