Steve Cooper is not paying attention to speculation surrounding his future as Nottingham Forest boss after a run of one win in nine Premier League games.

Last Saturday's home defeat to Brighton was a third loss in four as Forest sunk to 15th in the table, albeit with a healthy eight-point gap to the relegation zone. 

Club owner Evangelos Marinakis reportedly gave Cooper his backing earlier this week while also calling for in improvement in performances and results, with the 2-0 win against Aston Villa on November 5 the team's only league triumph since the first weekend of September. 

Forest face second-bottom Everton, who dropped into the bottom three following the league's 10-point deduction for breaching financial regulations, at the City Ground this weekend. 

And Cooper, 43, said: "I don't pay any attention to [the speculation]. 

"As a manager, you are never too far away from excessive praise and also the opposite. And some clubs will be noisier than others. 

"I don't pay any attention to it. In my mind, it's irrelevant. 

"What's relevant to me is our work, our commitment to the players and the supporters and doing our very best to make this season another progressive one. 

"To do that, there will be ups and downs. 

"One thing is for sure, I really like being the manager when things seem to be going well here. 

"But I want to be the manager even more when it's on the back of a negative result or even a couple of negative results, because I think that's what this club deserves — a manager who cares as much as I do. 

"Nobody likes a couple of poor results but it's going to happen with it being our second year in the Premier League and trying to progress. 

"To progress even a little bit, there will be all sorts of highs and lows."