Nottingham Forest are determined to make the most of the break in the Premier League season after ensuring they go into it off the bottom of the table.
Morgan Gibbs-White’s second half goal clinched a big three points for the Reds as they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at the City Ground. Victory made it four home games unbeaten in the league and lifted Steve Cooper’s side up to 18th - one point behind Everton, who sit directly above them.
The campaign now takes a near-six-week hiatus for the World Cup, with Forest not due back in action until their Carabao Cup trip to Blackburn Rovers in December. Their first league game back will be away to Manchester United on the 27th.
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The club have already announced a friendly against Valencia on December 16 and are finalising the remainder of their plans, with an announcement expected next week. Players and staff will have some time off first, but Cooper hopes time on the training ground will help his squad to gel further - something they have shown signs of in recent weeks after the summer overhaul.
Asked if the break comes at a good or bad time as the Reds look to have built some momentum, Cooper said: "It was coming. I just think now we have won going into it, that was really important, because it does linger for a little bit when you go into an international break - I know this is a little bit different - when you have lost. We had that with the Fulham game, for example, with the international break before.
"That helps the first part of the break, for sure. Good or bad time, it doesn't matter, it is here and we've put a plan together, which we are committing to.
"It includes a little bit of time away from each other at the start. I think that is important, to get away from each other, to reflect and recover and think through what has gone on.
"But then we have got to get back in and make the break a really hard-working and productive one. We have got a real plan for that, with the programme and the games, the periodisation of it all, both on and off the pitch.
"We have really thoroughly thought it through, so we look forward to committing to that now. Because, for sure, we have to be better in the next part of the season than we were in the first part, in terms of the points tally.
"Whatever happened, it was never going to be a great league position, let's be honest. But it could have been worse, so that's pleasing.
"It just allows us to go into the break not suffering after a defeat. It allows us to enjoy some time away and think about what it is going to take to do well going forward. But then we need to get back together and work as hard as we can to make the break a productive one.”
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