Joe Lolley points out key difference between Nottingham Forest’s promotion pushes in 2019/20 and 2021/22 | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest‘s rise under Steve Cooper has been one of the stories of the season in the EFL, with the Reds looking destined for a play-off spot at this stage.

They were rock bottom in the Championship when the Welshman replaced Chris Hughton at the helm, and no one would have expected them to bulldoze their way up the entire division and even into the automatic promotion conversation.

The Reds missed out on the top six agonisingly on the final day of the 2019/20 season, under Sabri Lamouchi, and are not yet mathematically confirmed to be in there this time around.

Joe Lolley, who has been at the club since January 2018, pointed out a key difference between this squad and the one that ultimately failed in 2019/20, when he spoke to The Athletic.

He said: “Back then, we were a little bit short as a squad and as a team.

“During the season, we were fortunate to be where we were for so long.

“We managed to scrap out good results.

“We had a lot of spirit.

“This year, it is just totally different.

“We have such a bigger squad with better quality.

“We dominate games.

“That is the difference.

“A lot of teams will fear us.

“We are a complete team.”

Forest have looked imperious, particularly at home, and are probably the team that everyone else is hoping to avoid in the play-off semi finals, so they do not have to make the trip to the City Ground.

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Lolley’s role has decreased significantly under Cooper, due to the emergence of Brennan Johnson, James Garner, Philip Zinckernagel, Keinan Davis and others, but the 29-year-old remains fully committed to the cause.

There will be moments in the closing exchanges of this season, where his experienced is essential to keep the squad grounded and to ensure that they take the opportunity presented to them.

There is a sense of now or never in this promotion push, a large portion of Forest’s key players are loanees and star man Brennan Johnson may well move to the Premier League in the summer, if they do not get there themselves.