Steve Cooper fires Sheffield United promotion warning to Nottingham Forest

Steve Cooper has warned his Nottingham Forest side they must beat the likes of Sheffield United if they're serious about promotion to the Premier League.

The Forest boss was full of praise for the Blades ahead of tonight's clash at Bramall Lane, claiming they had one of the "strongest squads" in the division.

A win against Forest would put some distance between Paul Heckingbottom's side and the rest of the chasing play-off pack, but they'll face Cooper's side who are unbeaten in their last four games.

Cooper told Forest's official club website: "We've come off a positive result from last weekend and a good week on the training pitch without a midweek game, so we're looking forward to the game.

"It's a good game to look forward to, but we've just got to focus on the football match. That's looking at the game plan, looking at the opposition and seeing where we can do well.

"It's a game between two good teams doing well, we've got to make sure we're ready for it and back ourselves and commit to the game to try and get the result we're after.

"There's no doubt that Sheffield United have one of the strongest squads in the league, but that's no surprise given that they were a Premier League team for a couple of years.

"They play some good football and are a difficult team to play against, but if we want to be an achieving team, these are the games we need to go for and back ourselves in."