Nottingham Forest have been told to take the positives out of their 0-0 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion ahead of the visit of Liverpool this weekend.
The Reds kept a first clean sheet in more than two months on Tuesday night thanks to an inspired defensive performance to keep the Seagulls scoreless. Dean Henderson made seven saves - equalling his season-high from the opening weekend of the season against Newcastle United - to secure just a second away point of the campaign, adding to the draw away at Everton back in August.
Picking up a point moved Forest off the bottom of the Premier League table at the expense of their East Midlands rivals Leicester City, who are not until midweek action until Thursday night when they welcome Leeds United to the King Power Stadium. Head coach Steve Cooper and company now face a quick turnaround before they are back in league action against Liverpool - who host West Ham United tonight - on Saturday lunchtime.
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Amazon Prime pundits Lee Dixon and Eni Aluko previewed that meeting after this most recent match while agreeing with Cooper about stressing the positives. They were though worried about the chances that the Reds conceded against Brighton
"When you look at the chances and the amount of football they had to play in their own box, defending it- ultimately, with the (number) of chances (they're conceding), at some point, one of them is going to go in, then the floodgates open," Dixon said during the coverage.
"Steve Cooper, coming to a place like this, has to take something positive out of that. They got a point. He won't be saying, 'we gave a load of chances away'.
"I just watched them coming off the pitch. All the coaches were on there, high-fiving Cook, high-fiving McKenna. What do you expect them to do? They gave all those chances away.
"You have to take the positives (though). It was a great point for them. That could be the point that keeps them up; you never know."
Aluko also added: "Another team punishes them. You can high-five all you like defensively, but another team takes those chances, and it's a different story. (But) you've got to be happy, given the way the game went, given the stats. You've got to be happy with the clean sheet."
Cooper admitted afterwards that "it was always going to be tough" away on the south coast and echoed the feeling that it "ended up being a good point". The boss added that after having to "see it out" in the second half, they "have to look at the positives, and there were a few” going forwards.
Do you agree that it was a good point ahead of Liverpool? Have your say in the comments...
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