Steve Cooper
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has revealed how he plans to ease Brennan Johnson back into the Reds team after injury.
The 22-year-old played his first minutes for the Reds since the end of last season after picking up an ankle injury while on international duty for Wales last month. Johnson played for over an hour during Forest’s final pre-season friendly of the summer on Saturday against Frankfurt.
However, patience is required for the Reds’ star who is likely to take a few games before he fully gets up to speed. Forest will be hoping that he will still be at the club when he inevitably returns to his best amid transfer speculation linking him with a move to Brentford.
And Cooper was pleased with Johnson’s first minutes for the Reds since a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on May 28. The Reds manager will be hoping that his star forward can feature in some form against Arsenal in their Premier League opener on Saturday, August 12 (kick-off 12.30pm).
Steve Cooper said: “Yeah, he’s come back really, really strong. He’s been really committed to his rehab. He’s a fit lad anyway so we didn’t need loads of precaution going into his first game and for him to go, I think up to 70 minutes I think more or less is a real bonus. He would like more of the ball of course, we would like to get him in more threatening positions but the game for him was more about being back on the pitch and getting the minutes and feeling the contact and getting the sort of tactical plans and what whatever the game gives you. That was what was important for him but overall it was just great to have him back.
