Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has revealed that he believes that Steve Cooper has a better chance of achieving promotion as a head coach this weekend with Nottingham Forest compared to the two previous campaigns.

Before sealing a move to the City Ground, Cooper led Swansea City to the play-offs in back-to-back seasons.

The Jacks suffered a 3-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Brentford in the semi-finals of this competition in 2020.

Undeterred by this setback, Swansea qualified for the play-offs again last year and booked a trip to Wembley Stadium by beating Barnsley.

Cooper was unable to guide his side to victory in the final as they once again suffered a defeat to the Bees.

The 42-year-old will be desperate to avoid the same fate on Sunday when Forest take on Huddersfield Town.

Whereas the Reds did manage to beat the Terriers in the FA Cup in March, they will be wary of the threat that their opponents will pose in this particular clash as Carlos Corberan's side secured victory at the City Ground in December.

Ahead of this showdown, Goodman has offered an honest assessment on Cooper's chances of finally guiding a club to promotion via the play-offs.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, Goodman said: "Having got there now [the play-off final], this is his best opportunity.

"With respect to the Swansea squad that he had at his disposal, they were against Brentford twice.

 

 

"Brentford were so good in both of those seasons actually that it was always going to be a tall order.

"But they [Forest] will fancy their chances, but they will be respectful of a very, very good and very awkward Huddersfield Town team who actually were the last team to beat them at the City Ground in the Championship.

"So, they won't take it lightly."

The Verdict

Having suffered defeat as a head coach in the play-off final last year, Cooper would have learnt from this particular experience and thus will be confident in his ability to oversee a Forest victory this weekend.

Currently able to call upon the services of Brennan Johnson, Keinan Davis and Sam Surridge, Cooper will be hoping that this particular trio will be able to provide some firepower at Wembley.

Johnson has scored an impressive total of 18 goals in the Championship this season while Davis and Surridge have both impressed at this level since joining the club earlier this year.

The Reds will also need their defenders to be at their very best in order to prevent Sorba Thomas and Danny Ward from causing issues in this particular fixture.