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Nottingham Forest have appointed England Under 19s coach Simon Rusk as a specialist set-piece coach.
Rusk was manager of Stockport in 2021 and also worked with Brighton Under 23s from 2015-21, after a playing career spent largely in the lower leagues.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis had been keen for Forest to bring in a coach to work specifically on set plays and Forest hope Rusk will increase their effectiveness in both penalty areas.
The Reds have conceded 11 goals from set pieces this season and Rusk will be tasked with shoring up Cooper’s side when defending them while making them more potent when attacking the opponent’s goal.
Nottingham Forest appoint England U19s coach Simon Rusk as their specialist set-piece coach
Forest have lost eight games this season and are sinking towards the relegation zone
Forest have not scored from a set piece since August when Willy Boly headed in a free-kick from out wide against Manchester United.
Forest’s recent clash with West Ham only displayed the work that was needed to improve the side at set pieces, with the Hammers looking threatening at every set piece while Morgan Gibbs-White struggled to impress at the other end.
Cooper is under pressure to turn things around following a string of poor results in the Premier League.
It has seen former Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Olivier Glasner is emerge as a managerial option for Forest as a result.
Saturday’s draw at Wolves helped stem a sequence of four consecutive losses but the danger to Cooper’s job remains ahead of Friday’s visit of Spurs.
And Glasner is a coach that is under consideration by the Forest hierarchy as a potential replacement should they decide to part with Cooper.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis is keen for Forest to improve on set plays in both penalty areas
The 49-year-old left Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of last season and was an early contender to replace Antonio Conte at Tottenham, while Crystal Palace also showed an initial interest in the Austrian prior to handing Roy Hodgson an extra 12 months in charge.
Glasner is currently out of work but it is unclear as to whether he would be open to a return to football with Forest, although it is understood that he is ken to work in the Premier League.
The ex-Wolfsburg head coach won the Europa League with Eintracht in 2022.
