Premier League team guide: Nottingham Forest in the spotlight

Nottingham Forest's decision to keep faith in manager Steve Cooper paid dividends as they maintained their Premier League status.

The Welsh boss appeared on the cusp of being sacked several times during the 2022-23 season but the club chose to stand by him.

Cooper dealt brilliantly with an enormous influx of players last summer and will now be looking to build on the positive strides taken last term.

Last season: 16th

When Forest suffered four Premier League defeats on the bounce in April, they looked destined to drop back down to the Championship.

But after the 3-2 defeat away at Liverpool on April 22, Cooper's team rallied and lost just one of their final six matches of the campaign.

The impressive run started with a 3-1 win over Brighton at the City Ground, with the standout result a 1-0 home victory against Arsenal which secured their top-flight status — and handed the title to Manchester City.

Forest's away record is something which will require serious improvement in 2023-24, though, as they lost 13 of their 19 matches on the road and only triumphed against relegated Southampton.

New faces

The Tricky Trees signed a ridiculous 23 players last summer but have been a lot less busy in this year's market so far.

Striker Chris Wood has completed a permanent move to Nottingham from Newcastle after spending the second half of 2022-23 on loan at Forest.

Anthony Elanga's arrival from Manchester United for a reported fee of £15million will also strengthen Cooper's attacking department for the new term.

And at the back, former Chelsea right-back Ola Aina has been recruited on a free transfer from Torino to provide added competition for the likes of Serge Aurier and Neco Williams.

One to watch: Taiwo Awoniyi

Forest's superb finish to last season coincided with Awoniyi's return to fitness and form.

The Nigerian striker missed nine games through injury in total but came back at the start of April and then displayed his ruthlessness by bagging six goals in the team's final four matches.

His strength and hold-up play make him the ideal focal point for Forest, one who can bring out the best in fellow attackers Elanga, Brennan Johnson and Morgan Gibbs-White.

If Awoniyi can avoid injury in 2023-24, he may well go on to establish himself as one of the division's most potent centre forwards.

The boss

Cooper joined Forest in September 2021 on a two-year deal and guided the club to promotion less than a year later with a win over Huddersfield in the 2022 Championship play-off final.

The former Swansea boss signed a new contract last October which will keep him at the City Ground until 2025.

Cooper's aesthetically-pleasing tactics are flexible, as he regularly switched between a 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2 formation throughout last season.

Perhaps the 43-year-old's greatest asset is his man-management skills, which has seen a number of Forest players improve under his leadership — most notably big-money signing Gibbs-White.

Information correct as of August 8, 2023