What Nottingham Forest's Championship rivals are saying about the race for the play-offs

Defeat to Luton Town may have been a stumbling block in Nottingham Forest's push for the play-offs, but Steve Cooper's side remain on track to reach the Championship top six.

The Reds went into the game enjoying ten games unbeaten, including five back-to-back victories, but had their fine form cut short as a controversial penalty proved to be the difference between the two sides at Kenilworth Road. That defeat, coupled with Bournemouth's home draw with Middlesbrough, means the Reds are seven points adrift of the automatic promotion spots but four points inside the play-offs.

It remains a tight race for the top six Championship spots. Seven points separate Forest (5th) and Bournemouth (2nd), whilst the same number of points divide Huddersfield Town (3rd) and Blackburn Rovers (8th). This is what the managers of those fighting to extend their season have been saying...

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“We were going to lose a game at some stage. We were on a good run, in good form, playing well and scoring goals,” boss Steve Cooper said after defeat to Luton Town.

“I’ve said to the players everything I’ve just said, plus we were going to lose a game at some stage - even if we didn’t really deserve to lose. Now we have to show that we can handle that. I don’t want to see any disappointment on the training ground. We get on with it.

“I’ve said to the players, we’ve shown lots of our good sides to our game and to our mentality. We need to show another one for Monday. Nobody wants to lose a game. But we’ve lost a game, so we’ve got to show we can deal with that and move on quickly.

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