Nottingham Forest manager explains why he is disappointed with 2-2 draw against Chelsea

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Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has explained why he is disappointed with the 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Cooper told BBC Match of the Day: “We always hope to get a win I know that maybe sounds a bit ambitious with how we have been away from home this year but it is about belief, backing yourselves and we do have that in the team. There is a bit of disappointment in the dressing room because we scored two goals and being 1-0 up compared to the goals we gave away, they were very different.

“But we gave everything today, we showed desire and belief but it is Chelsea away from home. It is as tough as it gets when Chelsea are at their best and they played some good football as well. We managed the game well, apart from the obvious, and we will take the point of course but we’ve also got to go a bit deeper and look at what went well and what we could do better next time.

“We are going through a stage of working really hard for our goals. We have probably scored more goals in the last few than during any other stage in the season. Guys are disappointed in the dressing room but I like that because it shows how much everybody care. The dressing room is together and you can see that on the pitch. To get a point is positive overall but we know that we have to do some things better and keep going.

“Chelsea had a lot of the ball but if you look at the goals, there are things we could do better. We’re all in this together, we never look at individuals, that’s not the culture we have. we only focus on the collective. We always try to find solutions to get the result, especially away from home and fortunately today it worked. So let’s get back on the bus, head back to Nottingham and get back to work.”

On Taiwo Awoniyi’s goals: “He scored with his head as well which we were very pleased with that. We talked about it and there was a chance at Brentford that we thought he could have done better with so it was good that he got the two goals. Especially the first one, I think he showed good bravery. You always want your striker to score goals and we have goals in the team so really pleased for him. Don’t forget he missed large parts of the second half of the season being injured. It shows his commitment to return to the team, play well and now get a few goals which is a real plus.”

“It’s dangerous to make something of anything in this league, we’ve just got to really focus on ourselves. Two games, we are at home next and we’ve got a week to get ready for it and we will be because the guys give everything. Hopefully we can get the result that everyone is desperate for.

“You can see the support we got today which is pretty normal really. A lot has been said about our home support but it has been just as good away. It’s just the fact that we haven’t got the results. At least they’ve got something to go home with today.”