Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson has praised Nottingham Forest counterpart Steve Cooper - but is still confident of coming away with a win at the City Ground on Saturday.
He believes a strong travelling support can give his team an edge on the banks of the Trent as they look to end the Reds’ unbeaten run, while giving their own form a boost at the same time.
Forest go into the weekend’s clash having lost just once since Cooper took charge in September, although five of their last six matches have finished in draws.
Their opponents, meanwhile, are without a victory in six - with four losses in that run - and have the worst away record in the Championship this season.
“I know it’s an obvious thing to say given our position, but December is a big month for us,” Ferguson told the Peterborough Telegraph. “We have to turn our form around quickly. We can’t afford to fall any further behind.
“Forest away is tough, obviously, but it’s a game we need to win and having 2,000 of our fans in the ground can only help. It should be a great atmosphere and hopefully we can raise our game.
“Forest have drawn a lot of games lately, but they have some exceptional players and a very good manager in Steve Cooper.
"I know him well as he was a youth team coach at Wrexham when I was there. He’s had a good managerial career so far, but we have to believe we can go there and get three points.
"If we do that, it would set us up well for the rest of the month.
“Often one good result kick-starts a season and that’s what we are looking to do. We can’t worry about what other teams are doing.”
Posh are third-bottom in the table, with Barnsley and the Reds’ arch-rivals Derby County below them.
Cooper’s side are in 16th spot, eight points adrift of the play-off places.
