Marlon Harewood has evaluated Nottingham Forest’s chances of survival should the Reds earn promotion later this month.

Steve Cooper’s side face a trip to Wembley Stadium to compete for a top flight place against Huddersfield Town on May 29.

The former Forest player believes that the club will find it difficult moving up the English pyramid.

The 42-year old has claimed that the Championship club will need to invest heavily in the side in order to stand a chance of maintaining a position in the Premier League.

However, the former striker has faith that Cooper will be the right man to lead the charge, having done so well to bring the team into promotion contention in the first place.

“It’s always difficult when you move up to the Premier League,” said Harewood, via BETDAQ.

“They would have to invest, and invest well. 

“The first year would be a massive battle to keep themselves in the Premier League, no doubt they’d be written off straight away before the season starts. 

“But they would have to recruit. There’s no reason why they can’t stay there, teams have done it previously. 

“It will be hard but with Steve Cooper they would be capable. He’d be excited to put his plan together to make that happen – if hopefully they get there!”

 

 

Cooper has previously led Swansea City to a play-off final 12 months ago, but his side fell short by losing to Brentford.

The Englishman has never managed in the top flight before, so gaining promotion would be a big step up in his career.

Forest themselves have been in the second tier or below since 1999, whereas the Terriers were in the Premier League as recently as 2019.

The Verdict

While there are many exciting players at Forest, it is clear that the team will need investment this summer regardless of what division the side plays in.

The simple reason being that the likes of Djed Spence and James Garner, two important players under Cooper, will be returning to their parent clubs following the conclusion of this campaign.

That immediately leaves the starting lineup without two key players going into the summer, both of which will need replacing.

On top of that, if the club is promoted, there will need to be players with Premier League experience brought in to help the younger players adapt to their new competition.