Sky Sports EFL pundit David Prutton has suggested that Nottingham Forest will be able to come out on top in Steve Cooper’s first game in charge of the Reds against Millwall on Saturday.

Forest head into the game embarking on a new era under Cooper. They do that off the back of achieving their first three points of the campaign in the Championship away at Huddersfield Town last time out.

That result came under the caretaker charge of Steven Reid and he was able to get a lot more out of the options available in Nottingham Forest’s squad by switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation.

That is something that Cooper might look to emulate for his first match in charge of the club against Millwall.

The Reds have even managed to move off the foot of the table in the week as a result of their rivals Derby County being handed a 12 point deduction for entering into administration.

Cooper will be aiming for his side to continue to build momentum from the Huddersfield game and another win here could single a major turning point in their campaign.

Millwall, meanwhile, missed out on the chance to make it into the last 16 of the League Cup in midweek, losing 2-0 at home to Leicester City.

However, they were competitive in that match and also rested some key players ahead of this fixture.

The Lions have managed to win just one of their opening eight league matches, but they are unbeaten in their last four and have drawn all of their last three games in the Championship.

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That includes their 1-1 draw against Coventry City last time out. Gary Rowett will be aiming for his side to start turning those draws into wins so that they can climb the table.

 

 

Making his latest round of predictions for Sky Sports, Prutton suggested that the momentum of Nottingham Forest under a new manager might be too much for Millwall to deal with and he predicts they will end up 2-0 winners.

The verdict

This is a huge game for Forest, Cooper will need to do all that he can to get off to a strong start with the Reds having already given most sides in the league a head start on them this season, after failing to win any of their first seven matches.

The win against Huddersfield showed a lot of promise though and Cooper would be wise not to change too much tactically from how the Reds were set up last weekend.

That is because it was the most comfortable and dangerous they have looked throughout the campaign to date.

Millwall really need to start picking up three points on a more regular basis. Like last season the Lions are a very solid side but they just seem to lack that something extra that can help them turn tight matches into wins.

Rowett will be hoping that changes as soon as possible and with a lot of the attention on this game on Nottingham Forest, it might be a chance for Millwall to perhaps provide a surprise win and spoil Cooper’s first game at the City Ground.