Nottingham Forest defender Mohamed Drager has revealed that he has been impressed by the atmosphere that Forest’s supporters are able to create at the City Ground despite not playing in front of them yet.

Drager was a late transfer window arrival at the City Ground and he has not been able to make his debut for the club as of yet.

That has been because the defender had to go through a period of self-isolation after featuring for Tunisia in the previous international break, with his match sharpness then needing to be built up after that.

The 25-year-old as a result has had to have a watching brief for Steve Cooper’s first three games in charge of the Reds. During that time he witnessed Forest play at the City Ground for the first time in their 1-1 draw against Millwall in what was their new manager’s first game in charge of the club.

The defender will now be hoping that he can get himself into Forest’s starting line-up over the coming weeks once they return to action after the international break.

 

 

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, Drager has revealed that he has already been left impressed by the atmosphere that supporters are able to create at the City Ground after he attended the Millwall game. While he also set out his aim to work hard to force his way into the side.

He said: “I went to the City Ground for the game against Millwall. That was the first game I was here. It was a full stadium, with a great atmosphere. Top fans.

“In general, England is famous for the fans.

“I enjoyed it and got some goosebumps.

“It was great. I hope to soon be on the pitch, not in the stands.

“So far, it has been good and I’m enjoying it here. I haven’t seen much of Nottingham yet.

“The boys are very gentle with me, and the staff are very gentle with me. I’ve had a very warm welcome.

“Now I have to keep working.

“The staff are also new, but they’ve made me feel at home from the first day.

“I haven’t had any problems with my adaption to the team.”

The verdict

Forest do have one of the most vociferous home crowds in the Championship and you can only see the noise ramping up at the City Ground over the coming weeks now that Cooper has got off to a strong start to his time in charge of the club.

That positive start could mean that Drager has to wait for his chance in the side because it would be very harsh on Cooper to drop any of the players he has been using so far in his opening three matches in charge of Forest.

The 25-year-old though seems to have the right attitude about him and is wanting to now put the work to get into their starting line-up, after bedding in well to life at the club over the last few weeks.

It was a major move for Drager to make and Forest will hope that their faith and investment in the defender pays off over the coming weeks and months. It will ve interesting to see how and when Cooper uses him.