Steven Gerrard expects Aston Villa to be playing in a cauldron of noise at the City Ground on Monday night after Steve Cooper signed a new contract with Nottingham Forest in midweek.
Forest come into the game having lost their last five Premier League games and are winless in their last six. Manager Cooper has just signed a new deal to end speculation surrounding his future at the club, and Gerrard is anticipating a raucous atmosphere.
"I think the Forest fans have got right behind the manager," he said. "I think they've realised what he did for them when he came in.
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"He took over an incredibly tough job when they were bottom of the Championship. What he's done in terms of getting them up and how he did it was very impressive so I think Steve should feel - from what I've seen - a lot of support from his supporters.
"I'm sure Forest and their players will want to react on Monday night and we have to be ready for that. But my focus is very much on us. We are all in a league, as managers, where if you don't get the results your club or your fans demand, then it's going to bring pressure and noise.
"There's half a dozen of us that are feeling that at the moment - some more than others. It is what it is. The only way to park that pressure up is to continue to build on our last three performances, try to win the game on Monday night and I'm sure the knee-jerk reactions or external noise will calm a little bit."
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