Nottingham Forest must turn frustration into motivation after encouraging display against Liverpool

Despite Nottingham Forest’s difficulties away from home this season, yesterday’s loss at Anfield is a case of what could have been.

Forest put in an away performance unlike many fans have seen of late: organised, spirited and one with goals.

Unsurprisingly Liverpool had much of the possession but offered very little threat in open play. Instead, Cooper’s side are left ruing some sloppy defending from set plays after a performance which could have yeilded much needed Premier League points.

After the game, Cooper did not shy away from the root cause of his side’s loss:

“Its easy to sum up. We didn’t defend the three set plays anywhere near well enough. Its three avoidable situations and one that we can only blame ourselves for.”

In the position Forest find themselves in, learning from these mistakes and taking the positives is the only constructive way to move forward.

Forest fans appear to share this attitude as they look to overcome a Brighton side on Wednesday who have seen great success this season.

“We’ve got to use the frustration and the disappointment of how we lost the game and turn it into motivation just to do better on Wednesday”, Cooper commented after the game.

With Brennan Johnson starting off the bench, the extra midfielder seemed to give Forest that extra manpower in the middle of the park and sured up their defensive approach.

Against their former club, Taiwo Awoniyi and Neco Williams were the standout performers for Forest, with the right back reaping the rewards for his attacking runs.

His deflected shot looped over Alisson and saw Forest score a rare away goal.

Equally, Morgan Gibbs-White’s volley from just inside the 18-yard-box may just spark the playmaker’s form going into the final six games. He undoubtedly has the ability to spearhead Forest out of the relegation places, but has not managed to imitate the form he showed earlier in the season.

Even though there’s no more points on the board and The Reds sit second bottom, for the first time in a long time, fans can take heart in yesterday’s display.

With only a handful of games remaining, Cooper’s focus on belief remains, as he hopes to rely on Forest’s home form to inspire his side to a win on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to keep believing. It’s a big week and there’s a home game next one.

“It doesn’t matter who we play at home, we’re always in with a good chance because of the support and atmosphere we get. We need them (the fans) more than ever but they give us that anyway.”

Although Forest left Anfield empty handed, they proved the fight and mentality is still there.

After all Cooper’s talk about belief, perhaps the onlooking Garibaldi faithful also share that after what could be seen as one of Forest’s strongest away performances yet.

There’s only one point between Forest and Premier League safety. With a renewed sense of hope and a strong performance in the bag, Forest can’t be ruled out just yet.