Steve Cooper is a miracle worker, but Nottingham Forest will falter in key games according to stats

Football has its fair share of fairy tales, with this season's most outlandish being written by Nottingham Forest and Steve Cooper. 

Eight weeks into the Championship season, the team who were fifth-favourites for the title found themselves bottom of the table after losing six of seven games.

Chris Hughton was quickly dismissed and in came Steve Cooper whose tenure at Swansea came to a sorry end after two failed promotion bids interspersed with complaints over his style of football.

Forest fans were indifferent to the type of football, formation or tactics used, they just wanted the team to move away from the bottom three.

The Reds were in a sorry state. Luckily for them, Cooper waved his magic wand and turned their fortunes around, with the wins piling up.

Today, the team sit third in the Championship and could leapfrog second-placed Bournemouth with a victory in their head-to-head encounter.

Ahead of a game which could very well decide which team goes to the ball (the Premier League), we take a dive into Cooper's stats and evaluate his chances of success against the Cherries.

Since taking over at Forest, Cooper's numbers have been nothing short of exceptional.

The 42-year-old has taken charge of 36 games and enjoyed 22 victories, while tasting just five defeats.

However, his record against top six opposition tells a different story. With the exception of a recent 1-0 victory over Fulham, Cooper's side have failed to beat any of their fellow promotion rivals.

That's six points from seven games, with just three goals scored.

The Welshman took Swansea to the play-offs in back-to-back seasons, but both times suffered dramatic defeats to Brentford.

A year later, Swansea progressed past Barnsley to book their place at