Boss Steve Cooper says Nottingham Forest’s tweet prior to their clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers was “not a good moment” for the club.
A few hours before Saturday’s match at Molineux, the club’s official Twitter account posted a mock-up picture of Emmanuel Dennis with three wolf pups, alongside the caption “playtime”. It was deleted shortly before kick-off, but not before it had gone viral and been shared in the Wolves players’ group chat.
Interim head coach Steve Davis said it gave the hosts “a bit more of an edge” as they secured a 1-0 win. And they got their own back by tweeting a picture of an axe embedded in a tree at full-time, with the message: “Playtime’s over.”
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Injury latest
Head coach Steve Cooper is pondering whether to ring the changes for Nottingham Forest’s trip to Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Reds travel south to face the Seagulls on Tuesday night (7.30pm kick-off) looking to end an eight-match winless run in the Premier League. And they are eager to quickly bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
With such a quick turnaround from their trip to Molineux, and a home game against Liverpool to come at the weekend, Cooper is considering tweaking his starting XI at the Amex Stadium. But he does have a few injury doubts ahead of the match.
Defensive duo Serge Aurier (muscle) and Renan Lodi (ankle sprain) will be given as much time as possible to recover from knocks. It is hoped midfielder Lewis O’Brien could also be available again, having missed the game at Wolves due to illness. Forest remain without Moussa Niakhate (hamstring) and Omar Richards (hairline fracture of the leg).
Pundit's verdict
Jermaine Jenas issued a blunt verdict on Nottingham Forest's form and says one of Steve Cooper's biggest problems is finding his best team.
The Reds dropped to the foot of the Premier League table at the weekend after defeat to Wolves and have won just once since returning to the top flight for the first time since 1999.
Despite being backed heavily in the transfer market with 22 players costing more than £120m, Forest are without a win in their last five games and face another tricky game against Brighton tomorrow night.
Former Reds ace Jenas believes that Cooper has yet to find the right team and admits the former Swansea boss has much to do if he is to get them back firing again.
Brighton blow
Brighton will be without Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma ahead of their clash against Nottingham Forest boss Roberto De Zerbi has confirmed.
Mitoma suffered an ankle problem early in the second half of his side's 2-0 defeat to Brentford on Friday but managed to see out the full 90 minutes.
But that has ruled him out of the Premier League clash against the Reds with the winger spotted on crutches and in ankle brace after Friday's night's defeat to the Bees.
And De Zerbi says he will not feature against Steve Cooper's side, who travel to the Amex Stadium on Tuesday (7.30pm kick-off).
What's your score prediction against Brighton? Have your say in the comments below
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