Steve Cooper predicts Leicester City’s ‘rocky road’ journey, drawing insights from Nottingham Forest’s experience

Leicester City’s journey back to success will be a “rocky road,” but they will emerge stronger from overcoming what manager Steve Cooper hopes will be their only challenging phase of the season.

As City prepare to face Bournemouth this Saturday (3pm kick-off) following a six-match winless start to the campaign, Cooper remains optimistic.

While the need for a first victory is growing, he believes that the team’s difficult spell provides valuable lessons, making long-term success more attainable.

Cooper’s experience in his first Premier League season with Nottingham Forest aligns with this perspective.

At Forest, Cooper endured a nine-match winless streak early in the season but followed it with five victories in 10 games.

Later in the season, after 11 winless games, Forest responded with three wins from five. This resilience is something Cooper is hoping to see from Leicester City.

“We are very much trying to become a Premier League team again,” Cooper said in his press conference on Thursday.

“Leicester City is a Premier League club in every sense, and recent history shows that.

But right now, we must ensure we deliver Premier League-level performances.

Some aspects of our play have been really good, while others need improvement.

That’s the challenge for the team and for me and the staff.”

Cooper emphasized the importance of enduring tough times and how it leads to growth: “There’s nothing better than coming through a difficult period.

When you do, you’re in a much better place because of the lessons learned.

It might not feel that way when results aren’t going your way, or when certain parts of our performances need to be better, but there’s an understanding that important learning takes place during these times.

Once you get through it, it allows for better mid-to-long-term outcomes.”

He continued, “I keep telling the players: this is a great opportunity for us to come through this spell and, hopefully, it’s a brief one. Coming through it will allow us to push forward.

We recently had a goal-setting meeting just for the players and staff, and while I won’t reveal the details, what we want to achieve is still very much attainable.

For sure, once we achieve it, we’ll look back and acknowledge it was a rocky road. But that’s how it goes.

Right now, we need to turn things around and get that first win.”

Despite their winless run, Leicester City remain outside the relegation zone.

Several clubs have had tough starts, with City among five teams yet to secure a victory, and clubs like Everton and West Ham each managing only one win.

Cooper believes that most teams experience challenging periods in the Premier League.

He added, “Unless you’re finishing eighth or higher, every team goes through a spell of few points.

That’s the nature of the Premier League. If this is our rough patch, I hope it’s ending soon.

Nobody enjoys it, but when you’re in certain parts of the Premier League, you go through phases where results don’t go your way.

Although there’s no shame in it, the key is to address it and move forward.”

With Leicester winless in their first six games, Cooper is focused on the future rather than dwelling on past results.

“There’s no point looking back,” he said. “What’s done is done.

We have to look ahead, accept our situation for what it is, and approach it positively with the motivation to get through this and reach a better place. That’s what has to drive us every day.”

For Cooper and Leicester City, the first win could be the key to turning the season around and reigniting their Premier League campaign.