Brentford travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

We spoke with Sarah Clapson of Nottinghamshire Live to get the latest on Steve Cooper's side.

Nottingham Forest are bottom of the table going into Saturday’s penultimate Premier League match before the World Cup. What have you made of what you’ve seen from their return to the top flight after 23 years?

It has been tough and I think Forest themselves would acknowledge that it has been difficult. They have had some good results and, prior to last weekend’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, it had seemed like they were taking forward steps and making a bit of progress, but that was a really bad day. They were appalling in the second half - it was dreadful.

Before that, though, they had beaten Liverpool, kept a second clean sheet on the bounce, come close to getting something from the game against Wolves and drawn against Aston Villa. They have gone back to basics and stripped it all back after being hammered at Leicester, making sure they were tough to beat and hard to break down.

That came at the expense of going forward and playing the kind of football that Steve Cooper wants to play, though it was seen as a necessary evil to get results: find a way of stemming the flow of goals and tightening up in general.

Forest will hope the Arsenal result is not a set-back and they can get back to the progress they were making.

Their transfer strategy has come under scrutiny due to the sheer number of players they recruited in the summer but, with four points from their last three games, can you see signs they are starting to gel and look like a team?

Yes. The Liverpool game, in particular, was the first time where they looked like a unit and were playing as a team. Before that, they had been individuals not really playing as a group.

Cooper has acknowledged that it is difficult to get so many new signings to gel, to get to know your best XI, and to get the best out of them all. He has been quite open in discussing that and it has shown in the results. I do not think they have named the same starting line-up once yet, whereas last season, they were so consistent in the team they put out.

They have struggled with injuries a little bit and had a few that have been ruled out, but you can tell the manager is still getting to know players, his best team and his best formation as well. He has settled upon a system that seems to work in recent games and, against Liverpool, you could really see they were fighting for each other and really working hard - and it seemed like that was going to be the end of the ‘group of strangers’ talk.

They will be hoping they can get back on track quite quickly, but the World Cup break should give them an opportunity to really work together on the training pitch. The hope is that they can get to that point, still be within touching distance of the teams around them and then use that break wisely.

Steve Cooper, who seemed to be under pressure after their difficult start, signed a new contract last month, which will keep him at Forest until 2025. How important was that vote of confidence from the owner?

It was a surprise! After the Leicester game, his job was on the line and most people would have expected Forest to go the other way because it is something they have done in the past.

The owner is not particularly known for his patience when it comes to managers, either at Forest or Olympiakos, so it did come as a surprise that he signed that contract. It was a show of faith in him, but also a show of Cooper’s faith in Forest.

I think it initially gave a bit of stability in that everyone knew where they stood and it did precede an upturn in results, to an extent. But Cooper will know as much as anybody that football is a results business and they need to keep getting points.

From the players’ perspective, because there was so much talk about the manager and what might happen, that uncertainty did not help, but they have never given the impression they are not playing for the manager and the fans are very much on his side, too.

He still has a lot of credit in the bank from last season and the majority of them can see the progress he is trying to make, it is just taking a while to get to where he wants to be.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye out for on Saturday?

Morgan Gibbs-White has, perhaps, been the one who has looked most dangerous at times. He has always looked lively and can offer a real threat. If anything is going to happen, it looks like it will probably come from him.

He is still getting to grips with things, though, and Forest have not seen the best of him yet. It is more about how they play as a unit at the moment; they really need to play as a team to get something from each game.

They are still waiting for some of their big players, like Gibbs-White, Jesse Lingard and Brennan Johnson to really get going, it is just taking a little bit of time.

How is Cooper likely to set up his side?

In the last few games, he has gone with a 4-3-3 and they have looked more solid as a result. They started the season playing as they did last season, with three at the back and wing-backs, but they were far too open, so that is the big chance he has made.

They do pack the midfield as well now; they can play five in the middle, bring the two forwards back, and play one up front at times if they are really under the cosh.

Brentford have won five of the last seven meetings at the City Ground, but what’s your score prediction for this one?

I will go with a confidence-boosting 2-1 Forest win.