Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper said that replicating the performance his side produced against Southampton on Monday night should be the minimum Forest should deliver against Chelsea this weekend.

Nottingham Forest beat Southampton 4-3 at The City Ground on Monday night.

“It was a win that we needed,” Cooper said. “The type of game it was, the wet night and the atmosphere all added to a great night.

“The hope now is that we take is whatever went well into the next game at Chelsea as a minimum, because that’s the most important game now.

“I’ve really liked the attitude, the focus and the desire of the players in training this week, now we really need to take that into the game on Saturday.”

The Reds head into Saturday having lost 3-2 to Liverpool and 2-1 to Brentford in their last two away matches. Cooper reflected on those results, reiterating the need to produce a perfect all-round performance on the road.

“I would have taken playing not as well as what we did if it meant us getting a win or at least a point in our last two games.

“At the same time, you have to look a bit deeper than the result sometimes and realise that we have performed well.

“We’ve got to try and repeat that with the obvious addition of getting something out of the game. There’s a real determination for that to happen.

“We’re not shying away from the fact that we have fallen short in terms of picking up points away from home, but the good thing is that we still have an opportunity with two games left to finish well.”