Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan has doubts regarding Steve Cooper.

The head coach has been given a lot of leeway by fans for his misdeeds since promotion to the Premier League at the start of last season.

However, McGugan believes that if he were not the hero who led Forest back to the big time, he would be scrutinized a lot more.

"If you get a freak result like winning against Chelsea it changes the momentum. The big things was that you have to take care of the home games too against the opposition we've had. That's the more alarming part for me," he told the latest Garibaldi Red podcast.

"Last year we were a counter attacking team who play off mistakes. That's why we've been good away to big teams. It's easier to sit in blocks and we've got a very robust midfield now.

"There's pace upfront with Taiwo (Awoniyi), Elanga and Hudson-Odoi. The transition is to play at home where you have to set your stall out against teams who sit in against you. That's where the struggle has been - can you flick the switch to be the dominant team? At home we're still in that middle ground where it's not happened. We look a lot better away from home waiting on mistakes.

"The manager has been terrific for the football club. He's got the club and the city back where we wanted. The feelgood factor around Forest nationally is a pleasure to see and it's down to the manager.

"He'll know it's a results business though. For what he's done, he's got stock and gets more chances than anyone else. If Steve Cooper had left in the summer and a new manager had come in with the same results, what would the opinion of fans be? I think a lot of the fans would be unsure about the new manager.

"In terms of turning it around, no one deserves more of an opportunity than Steve Cooper. If you strip it back and everything stayed the same with a new manager, what would fans say?"