Home » Steve Cooper promises Nottingham Forest will attack Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final

Steve Cooper promises Nottingham Forest will attack Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final

by Conner Botterill

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper says his side will “attack” Manchester United in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.

As reported in the Daily Mail, Cooper wants his players to give everything they can in a bid to get to the final at Wembley.

The Welshman is urging his team to go into the game with a positive mindset and make the most of their semi-final opportunity.

“It’s a semi-final, we really want to commit to it, we really want to attack it. I think we should go into it thinking they don’t come along very often, so treat it like it might be the last one,” he said.

United comfortably dispatched Forest by three goals to nil in the league fixture at Old Trafford – the first post World Cup league game for the two sides.

Cooper feels his side didn’t take enough belief into the game which played a part in the straightforward evening for United.

“We felt that we didn’t play with enough belief and courage in the game. It was going to be hard whatever, but we did walk off the pitch thinking we could have done a bit better there,” he said.

The Forest boss admits United are a formidable opponent but believes his side can upset the odds with the right mentality.

“Of course we’ll respect United and their strengths and there’s many of them, they’re dangerous in so many ways. But we have to believe we can play well in this game and that we can have a positive contribution,” he said

Both sides will be desperate to reach the first final of the season, with Erik ten Hag eyeing a very real chance to deliver silverware on his first attempt since taking over.

United are expected to go strong on Wednesday despite the upcoming fixture pile up, with 10 games in 31 days in front of Ten Hag’s men.

The winners of this tie will go on to play either Newcastle or Southampton who play the first of the semi-finals this evening (Tuesday).

 



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