Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Sarah Clapson

Steve Cooper explains 'difficult' Nottingham Forest team selection decisions against Crystal Palace

Head coach Steve Cooper admitted he had to make some difficult decisions when it came to picking his Nottingham Forest team to face Crystal Palace.

Some impressive individual performances, and a brilliant collective display, in the midweek Carabao Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur had given the Welshman a significant selection headache. Six of those who had started on Wednesday night - when Cooper had rung the changes from the draw against Brentford - retained their places for the Reds' final match before the World Cup break.

Centre-back duo Joe Worrall and Willy Boly were among them, having been struggling for minutes in recent weeks. Renan Lodi and Jesse Lingard also picked up from where they left off after both found the net for the first time in the Garibaldi against Spurs.

READ MORE: How the Reds rated against Palace

READ MORE: Cooper delivers verdict on Forest's crucial victory over Palace

Among those who came back into the XI was Morgan Gibbs-White, who made it two goals in two Premier League games to secure a hugely-important win. The three points moved Forest off the foot of the table and made it four home league games unbeaten.

"It is always difficult," Cooper said of his team selection. "We always look at what we think the game-plan should be, then you try to pick the right team for it, but the added part of the plan for this one was we had to take in some of the things that went on on Wednesday night.

"In life, when you do something well, you want to do it again quickly. I just felt that with the centre-backs and the likes of Renan and Jesse, they needed to go again, because they probably hadn't come down from Wednesday night - and that's the best time to go again. And they did, no doubt about that.

"But then at the same time, we also knew we needed other players in certain positions to commit to the plan we thought was the right one to win the game. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

"As pleasing for me is that the lads who didn't start the game have probably been the most vocal in the dressing room. I like that."

Who was your Forest man of the match? Have your say in the comments below

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.