Steve Cooper heaps praise on Nottingham Forest individual following Blackpool victory

Nottingham Forest’s play-off credentials were given a major boost on Saturday afternoon when they ran riot against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.

The Reds made the trip up to Lancashire knowing that a victory would put them in the top six before the 3pm matches kicked off, and they had all three points sealed before half time.

Philip Zinckernagel opened the scoring after just 11 minutes, before Brennan Johnson bagged a brace in the space of six minutes – the second coming after opposition goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw played it straight into his feet.

Sam Surridge came off the bench to add a fourth for the Tricky Trees, but they didn’t escape Bloomfield Road with a clean sheet as Callum Connolly notched a late consolation.

It was an impressive performance all round from Forest, but manager Steve Cooper had special praise for Johnson, who took both goals incredibly well to take his tally up to 13 goals for the campaign.

“I didn’t say anything to Brennan, but when he’s come back from international duty in recent times, he’s took a little bit to get going again, and he hadn’t played in those camps,” Cooper said post-match, per NottinghamshireLive.

“In this one, he did. So it was interesting to see how he played.

“He was excellent. He is excellent, isn’t he?

“His whole approach to playing for the team and the contribution he makes is always a good one. It was good.”

The Verdict

Johnson did his chances of a Premier League transfer if Forest don’t go up no harm at all with that performance against the Tangerines.

If scouts were watching then they would have been very impressed with what they saw, with the Wales international taking both goals very coolly indeed.

The 20-year-old is integral to Forest’s promotion push this season