Cooper thanks Forest fans for 'underserved' support after Fulham thrashing

Steve Cooper says he "did not deserve" the support directed at him by Nottingham Forest's travelling fans during their 5-0 thrashing at Fulham.

Recent reports have suggested the Welsh boss' position is coming under increasing scrutiny and his prospects were not boosted by a hammering at the hands of Marco Silva's Cottagers.

Yet the Forest fans sung Cooper's name throughout the second half, leaving the 43-year-old touched despite the challenging circumstances.

Cooper said: "It [the support] means so much. I'm grateful of course, but I'm embarrassed — I don't deserve that.

"The players don't deserve that support tonight. I've said to them in there, regardless of who is playing, who the manager is, you can't let the fans down like that.

"We've shown over the last couple of years how important this club is to the city so to not represent it in the way that it should be is hurtful to be honest.

"I take responsibility for that. I didn't deserve that from the supporters. We all let them down and have to take responsibility for that."

Painful viewing

Braces from Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez set the hosts on their way to a one-sided success in West London, with Tom Cairney adding a fifth late on.

And Cooper confessed the rout had been difficult to watch from the touchline.

He said: "Painful. Painful in so many ways. 

"A result we have to accept is our own fault and deserve, on the back of technical and tactical failings and then on top of that not enough desire to recover.

"They were cheap goals in terms of giving comfortable possession away, cheap in terms of having the desire to win a duel or a race.

"All of those things we were way short and this is the Premier League. If you play like we did tonight, you're going to get punished.

"Desire is not something I've ever questioned before. It's obviously another loss and it'll be talked about, but this is a little bit different tonight.

"We've often been getting beat by the odd goal, where we could've had different results but tonight we lacked everything needed to have any chance in a game."