Nottingham Forest head coach Oliver Glasner
Nottingham Forest head coach Oliver Glasner has been speaking to his players(Image: Getty)
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Head coach Oliver Glasner has tapped into the wealth of experience within his Nottingham Forest squad during the international break.
Losing to Coventry City last month was not the way the Reds wanted to go into the three-week hiatus, particularly as they had gone into that game on the back of beating Aston Villa. After defeat to the Sky Blues left his team without a home win this season, Glasner had admitted “a lot of brain work” would be on the agenda during the pause in domestic action.
A fortnight on, the Austrian is taking a level-headed approach to where Forest are at as they continue to adapt to his style of play. Making the most of a breather in the hectic Premier League schedule, he has taken the opportunity to quiz his players and gain a deeper insight into the club as a whole.
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“I think I switched off a little bit, but of course I've also thought about it,” Glasner told the Nottingham Post. “I asked and talked to a few players, asked some players… I'm here for three months now, some players have been here for many years so they know the club much better than I do, so I can learn from them, and this is what I'm doing.
“But also not overvaluing it (the Coventry result). It was still an unnecessary defeat and we have some topics to work on. But on the other side, I don't want to say after Villa everything is perfect, and one week later everything is terrible again.
“The truth is somewhere in between, and this is where we are right now. The job, I see, is to get more consistency in our performances on a higher level. That's what we want to do, and this is what we have to do.”
Those players not on international duty returned to training at the Nigel Doughty Academy earlier this week. A trip to face Crystal Palace, Glasner’s former club, on October 11 awaits when the campaign resumes.
Due to the number of players called up for their countries, there has been only a small group back at base. Defender Nikola Milenkovic has been among them and is expected to be available for the Selhurst Park clash after missing the last two fixtures with injury.
The shortage of numbers has meant the Reds have not been able to play 11 versus 11 matches in training, but they are set to put that right with a friendly on Saturday. Glasner has got plenty out of their sessions in the meantime.
“Credit to the players, really,” he said. “I experience it sometimes in the international break that players switch off, but they were very focused, really great attitude, great spirit here.
“Now we have a friendly on Saturday. It's good that everybody gets an 11 against 11, because this is what we can't train with.
“So far, really very positive. Also, the players who are playing for their countries, many of them have had good results. So far it's good.”
On Milenkovic’s recovery, he added: “Yes, he should be available for Palace.”