Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper was delighted after their 2-1 defeat of Sheffield United on Friday night.

Chris Wood produced a late winner for Forest as they defeated United at the City Ground.

Wood jumped from the bench before heading home on 89 minutes. Taiwo Awoniyi had put Forest ahead then Gustavo Hamer produced a stunning strike on his United debut to bring the scores level.

“I'm not sure we win that game last season, at times - especially at the start of the season," Cooper later said. “There was a little bit of Fulham and Bournemouth in my head as the game was going on. Hopefully that's a bit of growth in the mentality of the team.

“I really liked how we stuck to the task, because there was only one team that deserved to win. But at the same time, we took our foot off the gas and gave Sheffield United hope in the game - and when you do that, you can get punished. I'm glad we regrouped and did what we did in the last 30 or 40 minutes.

“It was a really important win. It's always important to get your first win of the season; that was the main objective we wanted to get out of tonight.

“We started the game really well - not just because we scored. For 30 minutes I thought we were excellent. We were really dominant and played the real football in the game.

“We were good for the 1-0 lead, but if anything we should have been a little more ruthless in making it more comfortable than what it ended up being. I didn't like the complacency that kicked into our game in the last 15 minutes of the half, with too much casual play and lack of concentration that seeped into our game.

“Half-time came at a good time to rev the lads up a bit. I hoped it wouldn't have been the case, but that (complacency) seeped into the second half. We conceded some territory and they scored a good goal from a set-piece.

“But we regrouped and I thought the last 30 minutes of the game we were by far the superior team again. In saying that, we gifted them a massive chance. It was a pivotal save from Matt (Turner, to deny Benie Traore).

“But then we really took the game to try to win it. Of course we were by far the better team, of course we deserved to win, but I really liked the attitude of the team in terms of getting the result late on.

“It was a great impact from the subs. I'm really pleased for Woody to score a great goal."